Corzetti
kor-TSET-tee
Coin-shaped disc stamped with a pattern on both faces.
Name. From a Genoese coin, the corzetto, which the stamped disc resembles.
What it is
Corzetti are Ligurian coins: discs of egg pasta about the size of a large coin, stamped on both sides with a carved wooden mould that leaves a family crest, a flower, or a geometric pattern. The moulds are still carved by hand in the Val Polcevera.
A second corzetti, from the Val Polcevera, is a small figure-eight pinched from dough.
How to cook corzetti
3 to 6 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 corzetti. Stir for the first minute so nothing sticks. Start the timer when the water returns to the boil.
- Fresh pasta has no dry core. It is done when it is tender, not when it resists.
- 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
The stamped relief holds a thin sauce in its grooves. Butter with pine nuts and marjoram is the tradition; a walnut sauce or a light pesto also works.
Pairs with: Butter and sage · Walnut sauce · Pesto alla genovese · Porcini
Classic plates: Corzetti al burro e maggiorana, Corzetti con salsa di noci, Corzetti ai funghi.
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.
No corzetti? 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
Curzetti (Genoa), corzetti stampati, croset, crosets (Piedmont), crosetti (Emilia-Romagna), croxetti, torsellini.
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.
Sources
- Cook time: fresh, by maker.
- Photograph: Croxetti.png, Popo le Chien, CC0.
- 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.
- Corzetti, Wikipedia (names, origin), CC BY-SA 4.0
- Q1051861, Wikidata
- Dimensions: brand spec sheets and measured boxes. Blank fields are unmeasured, never guessed.