Adri Barr Crocetti

A Pasta with a Past

Win this corzetti stamp made by Artisanal Pasta Tools!
Tell me your favorite pasta shape in the comments at the end of the article!

This is Part 5 of The Corzetti Files

Call this pasta what you will, the craze is on. When I first wrote about corzetti stampati (stamped pasta coins) almost three years ago, a Google search yielded few hits in English. Today there are hundreds. Corzetti even has its own Twitter hashtag: #corzetti. Tradition is a good thing, especially when it comes into vogue. One of the people driving this popularity is Terry Mirri, owner of Artisanal Pasta Tools. In his Napa California workshop he fashions wooden corzetti stamps and other tools of classic Italian cooking. I extend my thanks to Terry who has provided a hand made corzetti stamp fashioned of Osage Orange wood as a prize for this Giveaway.

Liguria is a verdant strip of Italy that arcs along the Italian Riviera. Green herbs, garlic, vegetables, fruit and nut trees grow in profusion in this sun-drenched land, protected from the bitter northern winds by the mountains that form Liguria’s land borders. As the summer sun recedes and the wet weather arrives, the fertile earth gives forth meaty porcini mushrooms. This is a land where plants and flowers thrive, and the silvery leaves of olive trees glimmer in the Italian sun.

Corzetti stampati has been part of the region’s culinary tradition for hundreds of years. The pasta stretches back to the height of The Most Serene Republic of Genoa. A maritime titan, Genoa (now the capital of Liguria) grew rich through trade. Her gold and silver Crusader coins with their images of the Crusader’s cross, also known as the Jerusalem cross, and the gates of the city were memorialized through the two piece wooden stamps used to make this pasta.

Stamps also feature coats of arms, lucky symbols, Christian crosses, and other decorative designs, all made to order for families and cooks. These ingenious tools both cut and imprint the pasta. Traditionally they are made of neutral woods such as pear or beech, woods that will not flavor the dough.

The dough can be made with white, whole wheat, or chestnut flours. Often all three versions are served together for textural and color variation. Vermentino wine and marjoram can be added to the dough, imparting true regional flavor; even the steam that rises from the pot is remarkably fragrant. For this recipe I used proportions I learned from Giuliano Bugialli, the master himself. Read the remainder of this entry »

Spinach Corzetti with Gorgonzola Sauce

This is Part 3 of a series – The Corzetti Files
For detailed information and photo essays on how to make corzetti, along with recipes, please delve further into The Corzetti Files:

Edible Art, The Corzetti Files – Part 1

The Intagliatore of Chiavari, The Corzetti Files – Part 2

Corzetti agli Spinaci con Gorgonzola, The Corzetti Files – Part 3

Where to Buy Corzetti Stamps, The Corzetti Files – Part 4

Corzetti Stampati – and a Giveaway! The Corzetti Files – Part 5

Well, it is all about Christmas now, and that means special pasta dishes. In years past I have served filled pastas such as ravioli, caramelle, or sometimes tortellini, but this year I decided to break with tradition and serve corzetti stampati, Liguria’s embossed pasta coins. Also known as croxetti, these embossed pasta circles have a history that stretches back to the glory days of La Serenissima Repubblica di Genova, The Serene Republic of Genoa, an independent state based in present day Liguria. I thought green corzetti would be particularly in keeping with the season, so I decided to make spinach pasta dough for them.

Corzetti are cut using a most ingenious two piece wooden tool, la stampa. The bottom of one piece is used like a cookie cutter to cut a round piece of pasta. The top of the cutting piece and the bottom of the second piece are artfully carved and are used to imprint the pasta coins. Read the remainder of this entry »

Here I am on the Cooking with Nonna web site – Rossella Rago put out the call for a special recipe to celebrate her birthday.  And I won with my Corzetti Stampati al Limone!

Thanks Rossella for selecting my recipe, and thanks also for all the wonderful interviews with all the nonne.  I very much regret that my own grandmother, Angela Barra Crocetti, is no longer with us.  She passed away years ago, but in our home she lives on.  May I also say, that “Cooking with Nonna” makes an invaluable contribution to the heritage of every Italian-American, preserving the recipes and the culture and history that is so entwined with them.

Grazie!

To learn more about Corzetti and to see some additional recipes see my other articles:

click HERE for Part 1 – Corzetti Edible Art

click HERE for Part 2 – The Intagliatore of Chiavari

click HERE for Part 3 – Corzetti Stampati agli Spinaci con Gorgonzola

click HERE for Part 4 – Where to buy Corzetti stamps

I have no affiliation with any product, manufacturer, or site mentioned in this article.

This is Part 2 of a series – The Corzetti Files
For detailed information and photo essays on how to make corzetti, along with recipes, please delve further into The Corzetti Files:

Edible Art, The Corzetti Files – Part 1

The Intagliatore of Chiavari, The Corzetti Files – Part 2

Corzetti agli Spinaci con Gorgonzola, The Corzetti Files – Part 3

Where to Buy Corzetti Stamps, The Corzetti Files – Part 4

Corzetti Stampati – and a Giveaway! The Corzetti Files – Part 5

A Gold Coin
The pasta we know as Corzetti started with a gold coin, the Genovino d’oro. Rome had fallen, and the curtain of The Dark Ages had descended over western Europe. Trade has fueled society for centuries, and it is trade that brought gold coins and light back to western Europe. The gold came across the Sahara from north Africa and Genoa’s harbor assured her of preeminent mercantile stature. King Conrad granted Genoa the right to mint her own gold coinage in 1252, and these pieces of almost pure gold summon up the history and wealth of The Most Serene Republic of Genoa.

Coming in at about 3.5 grams, the earliest of these coins feature the city gate and to honor King Conrad and his participation in the Crusades, a Crusader cross on the reverse. The coins are covered with a beautiful relief. One of the most famous coins honors the first Doge of Genoa, Simone Boccanegra, and later coins honor subsequent families and Doges. Today one must visit a museum or be fortunate enough to know a collector to view these coins, but with Liguria’s gift to the world of the pasta known as corzetti stampati (kohr-TSEHT-tee stahm-PAH-tee), the legacy of these glorious coins is alive and well and available to us all.

A Piece of Wood
I have an ongoing love affair with handmade pasta, and this one captivated me from the start. Imagine my delight when I discovered its history, how it was made, and that I could do it at home. All I needed was a corzetti stamp, the two piece tool that cuts and imprints the pasta. By the way, you may come across pasta in shops, in recipes or on menus called croxetti, crosetti or curzetti – these are all names for corzetti. Read the remainder of this entry »

This is Part 1 of a series
For detailed information and photo essays on how to make corzetti, along with recipes, please delve further into The Corzetti Files:

The Intagliatore of Chiavari, The Corzetti Files – Part 2

Corzetti agli Spinaci con Gorgonzola, The Corzetti Files – Part 3

Where to Buy Corzetti Stamps, The Corzetti Files – Part 4

Corzetti Stampati – and a Giveaway! The Corzetti Files – Part 5

When I first saw one I knew I had to have one. To those of you who know me – no laughing, no eye rolling, please. This time it was for real. And to those of you who do not know me, my friends are laughing because when ever I see any new kitchen item I say I have to have it. But corzetti stamps and the pasta made with them are in a class by themselves. Read the remainder of this entry »