Sfoglia Rina — Fresh Pasta Workshop & Trattoria
Bologna earned its nickname La Grassa (The Fat One) on the strength of its handmade egg pasta, and nowhere makes that tradition more tangible than Sfoglia Rina on Via Castiglione. This beloved trattoria and pasta shop is run by skilled sfogline — the women who roll pasta by hand with a metre-long mattarello rolling pin — and the results are extraordinary.
The art of the sfoglina
A true Bolognese sfoglina can roll a sheet of egg pasta thin enough to read a newspaper through it. At Sfoglia Rina you can watch the process live through the open kitchen window: the rhythmic thwack of the mattarello, the pasta billowing like silk, then being cut into tagliatelle or folded into tortellini with practised, lightning-fast fingers.
The shop sells fresh pasta to take away — pick up a nest of tagliatelle al ragù or a bag of tortellini in brodo to cook at your accommodation. It is the most flavourful edible souvenir you will find in the city.
What to order at the table
At lunch, the trattoria serves a short, seasonal menu built entirely around what the sfogline made that morning. The tagliatelle al ragù is the benchmark dish — a wide, rough-edged ribbon that grips the slow-cooked meat sauce in a way no factory pasta ever could.
Order the tortellini in brodo as a starter: tiny, navel-shaped parcels of pork, prosciutto and Parmigiano bobbing in a clear, golden capon broth. It is deceptively simple and profoundly good. Finish with a glass of Sangiovese Superiore from Romagna.
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