LIGURIAN PANSOTTI (PANSOTI)
Ligurian pansotti, called 'pansoti' in dialect, are rightly recognised as one of the best examples of Italian filled pasta.
They are distinguished from many other similar ravioli by their eggless white pastry and thin filling.
Find out their history, which is the best seasoning and then try them at home!
WHAT ARE PANSOTTI (PANSOTI)
Pansotti are part of the Ligurian fresh pasta family, a tradition characterised by a moderate use of eggs in the dough. For example, the very dough of pansotti is without eggs, but only wheat flour, semolina and water are used. The place of origin of pansoti is the Golfo Paradiso, that part of the riviera and hinterland between Genoa and the promontory of Portofino. It is a dish that has long been confined to that area by diffusion. There is an amusing anecdote about it. An account of a competition between restaurants in the early 1960s in which the journalist in front of a plate of pansotti presented in the competition was amazed by this novelty: and the journalist was from the Secolo XIX, the most important newspaper in Liguria!
Are they called pansotti or pansoti?
Pansotti do not appear in the Genoese cookbooks and therefore we have no written sources that historically attest to either their original name or recipe. However, an 18th-century Genoese poem has been found in which 'pansarotti' is mentioned, the interpretation of which is uncertain whether it was a fried speciality or a raviolo.
In any case, in dialect and locally they are called 'pansoti' by everyone, with only one T, but doing some research it seems that outside Liguria most Italians know them as 'pansotti'. For the same reason, they can be found on the market in different shapes: as a pot-bellied raviolo, as a triangle or as a half-moon. We prefer the pot-bellied version (see the pansotti product on site) both because in sense their name 'pansoti' probably derives from the dialectal 'pansa' (belly) and then because they are the most satisfying when eaten.
The filling of pansotti (pansoti)
Whatever the T and whatever the shape... either way, the filling is always "magro". "Magro" stuffing means a filling without meat, and lean cooking originated within the popular tradition of dishes allowed during Lent and other times of abstinence from meat prescribed by the Church. The filling of pansotti is made with herbs and cheese: first and foremost borage (the herb most commonly used for fillings in Liguria), which can be mixed with spinach, chard or wild herbs such as those that make up the prebuggiun. The cheese is either prescinseua or ricotta. In addition to these ingredients, garlic, marjoram and nutmeg are also present in the filling, bringing out the flavour of the pansoti. In the product sheet of our pansoti for sale, you can find the label prominently displayed in the image gallery.
HOW TO SEASON
As we explained in the section on the filling, this is a "magro" first course, so without meat. The delicate flavour of the herbs and cheese would be overpowered by the strong taste of a meat sauce or other full-bodied sauces. Even red tomato sauces are not among those recommended for seasoning pansoti. A quick and easy choice could be pansotti with butter and sage. But the ideal sauce for this pasta is certainly walnut sauce!
Pansotti with walnut sauce
This is a perfect dish for those on a vegetarian diet. Walnut sauce or sugo di noci is part of the traditional Genoese condiments, along with pesto and meat tuccu. It is a sauce made from walnuts (crushed or blended), garlic, marjoram, oil and salt: to this was added either bread soaked in milk or fresh cheese. To respect this traditional choice, our walnut sauce has no dairy products in it, so everyone can add whatever ingredients they like. We recommend you try our walnut sauce!
Why walnut sauce?
Walnuts are not a dry fruit grown in Liguria, we are more of a hazelnut and chestnut region. So how is it that this ingredient is so present in Genoese cuisine?
The fortune of walnuts in Genoa's gastronomic culture is due, as it is for many other foods of non-Ligurian origin (stoccafisso, for example), to the city's fortunate commercial history. At the time of the Maritime Republics, any commodity passed through Genoa's markets, including a dry oriental fruit such as walnuts. It was a very expensive product and perhaps for this very reason, being able to trade and buy walnuts was a demonstration of the power and wealth of the Genoese merchants. Since then, the walnut has become an ever-used ingredient in traditional Genoese cuisine and walnut sauce is perfect when you want to choose a delicate condiment, hence perfect for pansoti di magro.
How much walnut sauce for 1 kg pansoti
Portions of walnut sauce for 1 kg of pansotti are approximately: 150 grams of ready-made walnut base (walnut kernels, garlic, marjoram, oil and salt) to which you should add 30/50 grams of stale bread soaked in 70/100 ml of milk, and finally 30 grams of grated cheese to taste.
As an alternative to bread soaked in milk, you can add cream to our walnut base or the typical fresh Genoese cheese prescinseua, which we highly recommend you try... you can find a very simple ready-made recipe kit for sale on our website (pansoti + walnut sauce + prescinseua)!
Season them with pesto
So, no kidding... we've already written that we accept both the spelling 'pansotti' and 'pansoti' (for the purists, we sell them as pansoti, don't worry!) if we endorsed dressing them with pesto we'd rightly be run out of town! Pesto is a very tasty condiment and is therefore used with non-stuffed pasta or with neutral fillings. If you used pesto with pansoti instead of enhancing each other you would lose all the flavour. So our advice is: eat it with pansoti, or nut sauce or butter and sage, and pesto with trofie, gnocchi or trenette and potatoes and green beans.
If you want to know more, we have written a very comprehensive article on the subject: how to use pesto in your recipes.
HOW MANY PER PERSON
Dry pasta, fresh pasta and filled pasta yield differently. So, for example, 100 grams of dry trofie, 100 grams of fresh trofie and 100 grams of pansoti are not equivalent. The reason is very simple: dry pasta rehydrates during cooking and therefore increases in weight, whereas this does not happen in the same way for fresh pasta, which grows less. If you also add the filling, you realise that there is a big difference in yield.
In fact, if we are used to weighing 100 grams of dry pasta each, when it comes to filled pasta we have to double that. When you buy your pansoti calculate 200 grams per person.
WHICH WINE TO PAIR WITH IT
Pansoti are vegetarian ravioli and therefore go best with white wines. There is a great tradition of this type of wine in Liguria. Those typical of the area of origin of pansoti, hence the Genovesato and Riviera di Levante, are Bianchetta and Vermentino. Both are dry white wines that are quite savoury and delicate. If you prefer red wines then we can recommend Ciliegiolo, which is a Ligurian red wine that can even be brought to the table with fish. On Molo modo21 you will also find an excellent selection of Ligurian wines.
