Christmas is a celebration filled with meaning. Rooted in tradition, it evokes the warmth of family. Today I want to tell you about the Piedmontese Christmas menu from my family and my roots.

The table is set and waiting for us to sit down. The dishes served will speak of love and sharing. Our thoughts will turn to those who are no longer with us, and perhaps one dish will be prepared in their memory.

Piedmontese cuisine celebrates dishes made with love. The richness of Piedmont’s land is expressed through bold, distinctive flavours.

Are you ready? Let us begin our journey towards Christmas: SlowDays will guide you through a selection of traditional recipes.

Our Piedmontese Christmas menu begins with the starters:

In the villages of the Langa food is part of the traditional festivals and festivities. It is often the main actor!

Let us begin with traditional Piedmontese starters

A Piedmontese lunch is unthinkable without starters. A festive menu, especially at Christmas, would traditionally include anywhere from four to ten of them—hard to believe! Today, changing habits, diets and limited time mean fewer starters are served, but they are still essential at the beginning of any important meal.

About calf toned or “Vitel tonnè” I had already made an article. I leave you the link to the article, where you will also find the Russian salad.

Ingredients for 4 people

• 350 g of veal eye of round, very thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• A few Parmesan shavings
• Juice of one lemon
• Salt and pepper

Whisk the oil with the lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Arrange the slices on a serving plate. Drizzle with the dressing, cover with Parmesan shavings and serve immediately.

Ingredients for 4 people

• 8 large, tender Savoy cabbage leaves
• 200 g veal
• 200 g cooked salami
• 1 egg
• A knob of butter
• 1 tablespoon oil

Preparing the capunet

Blanch the cabbage leaves for a few minutes until tender. Remove the tough central rib and leave the leaves to cool.

Prepare the filling by mixing the minced meat, cooked salami and egg together.

Now make the rolls. Open out the cabbage leaves, add the filling and wrap them carefully. Place the capunet on a baking tray lined with baking paper, drizzle with oil and dot with butter. Bake at 180°C for about 30 minutes.

Which wines should accompany your starters? Wine has a place of honour on the traditional Piedmontese Christmas menu!

You could begin the meal with Alta Langa, whose bubbles immediately create a festive mood. With the starters I suggest Arneis, a white wine with character, or an excellent rosé—a style now produced with ever greater success in our area. And the wineries? There are so many in the Langhe, and I know a great many of them. How could I choose?

Now for the serious part: traditional Piedmontese first courses

Filled pasta, tajarin and risotto are the stars of festive lunches. If you have a healthy appetite, nobody will deny you a couple of first courses!

Agnolotti: the dish of festive days

Too complicated? On our Alba Food Tour you can taste this and many other specialities!

Piedmont on the Christmas menu: main courses

Talking about traditional Piedmontese main courses also means recalling age-old gestures and warm, welcoming kitchens where preparations for the great traditional Christmas lunch continued for days.

In the weeks before Christmas, my aunts, grandparents and parents would meet to decide the menu. Everyone wanted to bring the dish they considered their best. Advice was exchanged—but not every secret! The same dishes returned year after year, and one of the most popular was always beef braised in Barolo, a full-bodied, fragrant wine that gives the dish its unmistakable character.

Here is the recipe!

Barolo-braised beef recipe

Take a fine 1 kg piece of Piedmontese Fassona beef and leave it overnight immersed in a bottle of Barolo. Add onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, pepper, cinnamon and cloves.

In the morning, drain and flour the meat. Heat oil and butter in a casserole, then brown the meat carefully on every side. Pour in the Barolo with all the vegetables and cook for 2 hours and 30 minutes. Remove the meat and blend the Barolo and vegetables into a sauce. If it seems too thin, add a tablespoon of flour.

Slice the meat and serve it with its splendid Barolo sauce. Add mashed potatoes and a little spinach sautéed in butter—because vegetables are good for you!

Now I want to tell you about a truly unusual dish. It was born from the need to waste no part of the animals that were slaughtered—or even from the fact that, after slaughter, farmers were sometimes left only with the less prized cuts.

Today we may turn up our noses when we read the list of ingredients, but I assure you that it is an excellent dish, and one that requires a great deal of work!

In our family, a great-grandmother used to prepare it especially at Christmas. I tasted it without ever quite understanding which pieces of meat I was eating!

Traditional Christmas desserts in Piedmont

Dessert also plays an important role on a traditional Piedmontese menu.

Bunet – a traditional Piedmontese dessert

• 1 litre fresh whole milk
• 300 g sugar
• 4 eggs
• 150 g amaretti biscuits
• 1 small cup strong espresso
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons sugar for the caramel

Beat the eggs and sugar by hand. Add the coffee, once cooled, and the cocoa. Stir in the milk, then add the crumbled amaretti. Caramelise the sugar in a pudding mould and leave it to cool for five minutes. Pour in the egg-and-milk mixture. Place the mould in a large pan of water, cover and cook in a bain-marie for 25 minutes, checking with a skewer. Chill in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.

Paste di meliga with “sambaiun”

For paste di meliga, I will send you straight to the official website. This is a recipe protected by the Slow Food movement—a serious matter that defines the history and authentic method behind these biscuits. Paste di meliga according to Piedmontese tradition

For homemade paste di meliga you will need:

• 120 g fine maize flour
• 250 g type 1 flour
• 100 g sugar
• 250 g softened butter
• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 pinch salt
• Vanilla flavouring

Mix the flours with the sugar. Add the softened butter and work quickly. Grate in the lemon zest and add the vanilla. Finally, mix in the egg and yolk. You should obtain a soft but firm dough. Use a piping bag to make small rings—or shape them however you like. They will taste just as good!

Sambaiun or zabaglione

Piedmontese zabaglione is an age-old traditional recipe: a simple egg custard enriched with wine or liqueur and refined over time. Together with paste di meliga, it creates a true explosion of flavour!

You will need: 4 egg yolks, 4 tablespoons sugar, and Marsala or Moscato wine

Place the yolks in a saucepan. Add the sugar and whisk until the mixture is very pale and fluffy. Using four half eggshells as your measure, slowly incorporate the Marsala or Moscato. Place the saucepan over a bain-marie and continue whisking. As soon as the mixture begins to swell—but before it boils—it is ready. Leave it to cool slightly and serve with the paste di meliga.

Goodbye, diet!

The novena prepared people’s spirits and marked the days leading up to the celebration. It was said that December snow lasted as long as the frost, and this was considered good for the fields and farming.

At Christmas, every family made a nativity scene—even a small one—and took pride in having it at home. On Christmas Eve everyone went to Mass, then returned to houses warmed by the “putagè”. Preparations for lunch began early the next morning, although several dishes had already been started in the preceding days.

The world is hectic and moves quickly. Traditions can sometimes seem outdated, yet deep in our hearts we carry memories—even if they were only stories told by our grandparents. Has this Piedmontese Christmas menu awakened memories of your own roots too? Tell us in the comments!