Sagra del Tortello Mantovano

The Sagra del Tortello di Zucca Mantovano celebrates Mantova's signature pasta in autumn, when the pumpkins used for the filling are freshly harvested. The tortello di zucca — a square fresh pasta filled with a mixture of pumpkin, amaretti biscuits, mostarda di Mantova, and nutmeg — is one of the most distinctive dishes in the Italian culinary canon, a perfect expression of the sweet-savoury Lombard baroque kitchen of the Gonzaga court. Local trattorie and sagra volunteers prepare hundreds of kilograms of tortelli by hand, served with burro e salvia (butter and sage) in the traditional manner. The event is an excellent opportunity to experience Mantova's living food culture rather than simply its UNESCO palaces, and to take home bags of pasta and bottles of the local Lambrusco Mantovano wine.