Pansotti

Pansotti are a Ligurian filled pasta: triangles or half-moons of thin dough stuffed with ricotta and a mix of wild greens. They belong to the filled pasta group and come from the eastern Riviera around Genoa, Recco and Camogli.

Most pansotti are triangles about 5 cm a side, made by folding a square of dough diagonally over the filling. The Genoese name pansòtti comes from pansa, "belly", and means something like "pot-bellied ones": they are filled so generously that they bulge.

The dough is simpler than for most filled pasta: wheat flour, water, often a splash of white wine, and little or no egg. The filling is meatless. Its base is preboggion, a mix of wild and garden greens (borage, chard, dandelion and other herbs) that are blanched and finely chopped. Ricotta or the local soured curd cheese prescinsêua is added, with grated parmesan, egg, garlic and nutmeg.

Fresh pansotti cook in 4–6 minutes. The classic sauce is walnut sauce (salsa di noci): walnuts pounded with garlic, breadcrumb soaked in milk, olive oil and marjoram. Sometimes they are simply served with butter and sage.

When buying, look at the filling: traditional pansotti contain plenty of mixed greens, not just spinach. Fresh pasta keeps a few days in the fridge; walnut sauce is best made shortly before serving.