Pasta Database

Cjarsons

char-SONS

StuffedFriuli-Venezia Giulia

Half-moon of potato dough with a sweet and savoury filling.

Name. Friulian, of uncertain origin. Also cjalsons.

How to cook cjarsons: 4 to 6 minutes, with a timer

What it is

Cjarsons are the parcels of Carnia in the Friulian Alps: a potato-based dough folded over a filling that changes by valley and can include potato, ricotta, raisins, cinnamon, cocoa, herbs, and jam. Each family has its own recipe.

They are dressed with smoked ricotta and brown butter, and they are sweet and savoury at once.

How to cook cjarsons

4 to 6 minutes in boiling salted water. Take the shorter time for al dente, the longer time for fully cooked.

Custom, minutes

4:00

Start when the water returns to the boil.

Water and salt

People
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

  1. Bring 4 L of water to a full boil in a tall pot. Add 40 g of salt when it boils.
  2. Add the cjarsons. Stir for the first minute so nothing sticks. Start the timer when the water returns to the boil.
  3. 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.
  4. Scoop out a cup of the cooking water. Drain, or lift the pasta straight into the pan.
  5. 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

Brown butter and grated smoked ricotta. The sweet filling needs the smoke and the salt.

Pairs with: Butter and sage

Classic plates: Cjarsons di Carnia con ricotta affumicata.

No cjarsons? Use these

Ranked by how they behave with sauce, not how they look. Full substitute list.

Mezzelune, uncooked, on linen

Mezzelune

Stuffed · Trentino-Alto Adige

A half-moon parcel

Gnocchi, uncooked, on linen

Gnocchi

Hand-formed · All of Italy

The same potato dough without the fold

Casoncelli, uncooked, on linen

Casoncelli

Stuffed · Lombardy

Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 1 sauce, close in size

Side by side

Easy to confuse with

Mezzelune, uncooked, on linen

Mezzelune

Stuffed · Trentino-Alto Adige

circle folded in half over a filling into a half-moon

Gnocchi, uncooked, on linen

Gnocchi

Hand-formed · All of Italy

small soft dumpling of potato and flour, often ridged on a fork

Other names

cjalsons, cjalzons, cjarsons carnici.

Read more

Sources

  • Cook time: fresh, by maker.
  • Photograph: Cjalsons.jpg, Dorothy61n1The original uploader was Dorothy61n1 at Italian Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0.
  • Cjarsons, Wikipedia (names, origin), CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Q3678813, Wikidata
  • Dimensions: brand spec sheets and measured boxes. Blank fields are unmeasured, never guessed.