Cappellacci
kap-pel-LAH-chee
Large folded parcel filled with pumpkin, shaped like a peasant's hat.
Name. Big rough hats, from cappello with the pejorative -accio. PGI protected as cappellacci di zucca ferraresi since 2016.
What it is
Cappellacci di zucca are the pumpkin parcels of Ferrara: a large square folded over a filling of roasted pumpkin, parmesan, and nutmeg, then pinched into a peaked hat. They date to the Este court of the 1500s and have PGI protection.
Mantua makes a similar pumpkin tortello with amaretti and mostarda in the filling.
How to cook cappellacci
3 to 5 minutes in boiling salted water. Take the shorter time for al dente, the longer time for fully cooked.
3:00
Start when the water returns to the boil.
Water and salt
- Pasta, dry
- 400 g
- Water
- 4 L
- Salt
- 40 g
100 g per person as a main. A litre and 10 g of salt per 100 g. Adjust with the portion calculator.
The steps
- Bring 4 L of water to a full boil in a tall pot. Add 40 g of salt when it boils.
- Add the cappellacci. Stir for the first minute so nothing sticks. Start the timer when the water returns to the boil.
- Keep the water at a gentle boil, not a rolling one, so the parcels do not split. They are done about a minute after they float.
- Scoop out a cup of the cooking water. Drain, or lift the pasta straight into the pan.
- Toss with the sauce over the heat for a minute. Add cooking water a splash at a time until it clings.
Read more: what al dente means and why the pasta water matters. Times for every shape are on the cook page.
How it holds sauce
A sweet pumpkin filling wants brown butter and sage, or a light meat ragu in the Ferrara style. Cream flattens it.
Pairs with: Butter and sage · Meat ragu
Classic plates: Cappellacci di zucca al burro e salvia, Cappellacci di zucca al ragu.
Nutrition
Per 100 g of fresh pasta. The shape does not change these numbers. The dough does, so a whole wheat or egg version of this shape reads differently. See every dough.
| Per 100 g | Energy | Protein | Carbohydrate | Fibre | Fat | Sodium | Iron |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry | 288 kcal | 11.3 g | 54.7 g | g | 2.3 g | 26 mg | 3.4 mg |
| Cooked | 131 kcal | 5.2 g | 24.9 g | g | 1.1 g | 6 mg | 1.1 mg |
One portion. 100 g dry becomes about 220 g cooked, 288 kcal and 11 g of protein. Pasta takes on 2.2 times its weight in the pot.
Who makes cappellacci
5 cappellacci products are catalogued, most of them sold in United States.
Brands: Simply Roundy S (2), Wegmans (1).
No cappellacci? Use these
Ranked by how they behave with sauce, not how they look. Full substitute list.
Side by side
Easy to confuse with
Other names
cappellacci di zucca, cappellacci ferraresi, caplaz.
Read more
Semolina versus egg dough: the two doughs of Italian pasta
The difference between durum semolina pasta and egg pasta: flour, water, eggs, where each is made, how each cooks, and which sauces each dough wants.
Fresh versus dried pasta: neither is better, they are different foods
The difference between fresh and dried pasta: dough, texture, cook time, storage, and which shapes and sauces belong to each.
Pasta di Gragnano PGI: the town that made dried pasta an industry
What the Gragnano PGI protects, why the town near Naples became the capital of dried pasta, and what the mark means on a box.
Sources
- Cook time: fresh egg pasta.
- Open Food Facts (products, brands, labels), Open Database License, read on 2026-08-25.
- USDA FoodData Central (nutrition per 100 g, by dough: FDC 169727, Pasta, fresh-refrigerated, plain, as purchased; FDC 169728, Pasta, fresh-refrigerated, plain, cooked), public domain. The cooked yield is derived from the two energy figures.
- Dimensions: brand spec sheets and measured boxes. Blank fields are unmeasured, never guessed.