TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Casoncelli alla BergamascaBergamo-Style Casoncelli
Half-moon-shaped filled pasta from Bergamo. The filling combines meat, salami, breadcrumbs, raisins and pear for a distinctive sweet-and-savory contrast. Served with a browned-butter, pancetta and sage sauce.
AUTHENTICITY SCORE
Authenticity Score
This is the standard recipe, exactly as it’s made where it comes from — the highest Authenticity Score possible. Substituting ingredients changes this score; the app shows exactly how, ingredient by ingredient.
Ingredients (4 servings)
- Egg pasta dough (300 g cake flour and 3 eggs)1 batch
- Ground beefFor the filling; sauté beforehand150 g
- Bergamo salamiFor the filling; finely chop80 g
- RaisinsFor the filling; adds a sweet accent30 g
- Mostaccino (ground spiced biscuit)A mixture of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg may be substituted10 g
- Parmigiano Reggiano60 g
- Butter10 g for sautéing the beef and 80 g for the sauce90 g
- Thinly sliced pancettaFor the sauce; fry until crisp80 g
- Fresh sageFor the sauce6 pieces
Method
Make the filling
- 1 Melt 10 g butter in a frying pan and sauté 150 g ground beef over medium heat.
- 2 Once the meat changes color, remove and cool.
- 3 Mix the cooked beef thoroughly with 80 g chopped salamella, 30 g raisins, 10 g spices and 30 g Parmigiano to make the filling.
Ready when
The filling should be evenly mixed.
Caution
Hot ground meat makes the pasta dough prone to tearing. Always let it cool before using.
Shape the pasta
- 1 MeanwhileStart bringing a large pot of water to the boil, using 10 g salt per 1 L water.
- 2 Roll the egg pasta dough thinly and cut out circles 7 cm in diameter.
- 3 Place about 1 tsp filling on each, fold into a half-moon and firmly seal the edges.
Ready when
All the casoncelli should be sealed.
Caution
Edges that are not firmly sealed will open during boiling.
Boil the casoncelli
- 1 Boil the casoncelli in the prepared salted water for 5–6 minutes, or 2 minutes after they float.
Ready when
They are cooked 2 minutes after rising to the surface.
Make the sauce
- 1 Melt 80 g butter in a frying pan.
- 2 Fry 80 g pancetta over medium heat until crisp.
- 3 Add 6 sage leaves and infuse for 30 seconds.
Ready when
The pancetta should be crisp and the sage fragrant.
Caution
Adding too much sage can make it burn. 30 seconds is enough.
Spoon over the pancetta butter
- 1 Arrange the casoncelli on plates.
- 2 Spoon over the pancetta and butter.
- 3 Sprinkle with 30 g Parmigiano.
Ready when
They are ready when the melted butter coats everything and the Parmigiano begins to melt in the residual heat.
About this dish
Bergamo lies 50 kilometers east of Milan and has a food culture distinct even within Lombardy. Casoncelli are the city’s filled pasta, known for their unusual filling. Sweet and savory meet as meat, biscotti (dry cookies), raisins and spices coexist in a single parcel.
This sweet-and-savory quality is a remnant of medieval cooking influenced by Arab culture. Mixing sweet and salty elements in a single dish was not unusual in European cooking then, and that memory survived as a Bergamo tradition. A combination that feels “out of place” by modern standards is in fact the original flavor, maintained for centuries.
The finish is melted butter, lardo (pork back fat) and sage, completed with grated cheese. Against the complex filling, the finish is exceptionally simple: this contrast is what makes casoncelli intriguing.
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