Pansoti are a type of fresh stuffed pasta from Liguria: “plump” little bundles made of thin pasta dough, filled with a mixture of wild herbs ( preboggion) and prescinseua, and served with walnut sauce—a raw cream made from walnuts, breadcrumbs, and garlic. They are a dish from eastern Liguria and Genoa, made without meat. You may also see them spelled “pansotti”—it’s the same dish.
Here you’ll find the two recipes that make up this dish—stuffed pasta with sauce—with serving sizes for 4 people, common mistakes to avoid, variations, and its documented history.
- Origin: Eastern Liguria and Genoa; first mentioned in print in 1931, in Rapallo
- Total time: about 1 hour and 30 minutes, including the time the dough rests
- Servings: 4 people
- Difficulty: medium (shaping requires some manual dexterity)
- Key ingredients: wild greens or Swiss chard and borage, prescinseua or ricotta, walnuts, breadcrumbs
- When to eat it: all year round; in many families, it’s a Christmas Eve dish
Ingredients
Serves 4. Sources vary widely (the amount of flour ranges from 300 to 500 g, and the amount of prescinseua from 150 to 250 g): this is a balanced version that can be adjusted as needed.
Pasta
- 400 g of 00 flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 small glass (about 100 ml) of dry white wine or water
- 1 pinch of salt
Filling
- 500 g of preboggion, or Swiss chard, wild greens, and borage
- 250 g of prescinseua or ricotta
- 50 g grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 egg
- 1 pinch of marjoram
- 1 pinch of nutmeg
- salt
Preboggion is a mixture of wild herbs that varies from valley to valley and with the seasons; the name comes from the Ligurian word “preboggî,” meaning “to blanch.” Sources mention borage, stinging nettle, dandelion, wild radicchio, cat’s-ear, campion, great burnet, and rampion, all harvested young. If you can’t find it, mix Swiss chard or baby greens (mild) with borage, chicory, or escarole (bitter). Prescinseua is a fresh Ligurian curd, halfway between yogurt and ricotta, with a slightly tangy flavor: as an alternative, use ricotta with a little yogurt.
Walnut Sauce
- 200 g of walnut kernels
- 1 small clove of garlic
- the crumb of 1 small roll, soaked in milk and squeezed dry
- whole milk for soaking
- 2–3 tablespoons of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- 30 g pine nuts (optional)
- 1 pinch of marjoram
- 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- coarse salt
How to Make It
Dough and Filling
- Knead the flour, eggs, wine, and salt until the dough is smooth and elastic. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Wash the herbs, boil them in salted water, and immediately cool them in cold water to preserve their color. Squeeze out the excess water thoroughly and chop them finely.
- Mix the herbs with prescinseua, Parmesan, egg, marjoram, nutmeg, and salt. The filling should be firm, not watery.
Forming
- Roll out the dough very thinly and cut it into squares with sides measuring 6–8 cm.
- Place a small amount of filling in the center of each square, moisten the edges, and fold into a triangle, pressing out any air. Seal tightly.
- Join the two side points of the triangle, crossing them over each other.
Walnut Sauce
- Soak the bread crumbs in the milk, then squeeze them out. Set the milk aside.
- In a mortar, crush the garlic with coarse salt and pine nuts, if using. Add the walnuts and crush them until the mixture is smooth.
- Stir in the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and marjoram. Gradually add the oil and a little of the milk you set aside, until the mixture is creamy but not runny.
Cooking and Serving
- Cook the pansoti in plenty of boiling salted water for a few minutes, until they float to the surface.
- Drain them, setting aside a ladleful of the cooking water. Thin the sauce with a little of that water and season to taste. The sauce is not cooked or heated on the stove.
Tips and Common Mistakes
- Herbs that haven’t been squeezed dry enough: they make the filling watery, and the pansoti fall apart during cooking.
- Thick pasta: where the strands overlap at the tips, they remain hard.
- Bitter walnuts: The thin skin gives them a slightly bitter aftertaste, which some people consider part of the tradition. For a milder sauce, blanch the walnut kernels briefly and remove the skin.
- Mortar or blender: The sauce is made in a mortar; a blender works well in short bursts to avoid heating it up.
- If the sauce is too thick, thin it out with some of the cooking liquid.
- Allergens: This dish contains gluten, eggs, milk, nuts, and pine nuts.
Variants
- Filling: with herbs only or with additional cheese. In Rapallo, the De.Co. specifications require at least four types of herbs, with borage making up at least 50% and Swiss chard no more than 20%, and up to 30% of the filling consisting of cheese.
- Shape: triangle with crossed corners, crescent, or large tortello.
- Topping: butter, sage, and Parmesan cheese instead of walnut sauce. The sauce also goes well with other Ligurian pasta shapes, such as corzetti.
- Sauce: Some recipes call for butter, while others use only breadcrumbs and milk to thicken it; the amounts vary from family to family.
For another Ligurian filling with herbs and prescinseua, see torta pasqualina; for the region’s other iconic sauce, Genoese pesto.
History and Origins
The name comes from the Ligurian word *pansa*, meaning “belly.” The legend of the French general “Pansoit,” who is said to have invented them to feed his troops, has no basis in fact. The most reliable source is the Touring Club’s 1931 Guida Gastronomica d’Italia, which, under the entry for Rapallo, mentions “pansoti cu a salsa de nuge.” An 18th-century Genoese poem lists “pansarotti” among Carnival foods, but refers to them as ravioli; they do not appear in historical Genoese cookbooks.
The walnut sauce predates the dish itself: it derives from medieval garlic-based sauces and, according to various sources, from Genoese merchants’ trade with the East—though this remains a hypothesis. Several towns in the Levante region, including Bogliasco, claim to be the birthplace of pansoti, though there is no written evidence. Today, they are a traditional agri-food product (PAT) of Liguria, and Rapallo granted the “pansotti with walnut sauce” De.Co. status through a 2013 City Council resolution.
Where to Try It in Liguria
- Rapallo: This is the town mentioned in 1931, and the dish has De.Co. certification.
- Genoa: Pansoti are one of the classic dishes—find out what to eat in Genoa.
- Camogli, Santa Margherita Ligure, Chiavari, and Moneglia: you’ll find them in the kitchens of the Levante region alongside trofie with pesto and anchovies.
- Bogliasco: It hosts a pansoti festival in late July 2026; check the dates for this year.
For an overview of Ligurian dishes, from Recco focaccia to pesto, see Ligurian cuisine.
What to Drink
A delicate, slightly rich dish calls for a light, dry white wine: among the pairings mentioned is Pigato. You can find other Ligurian whites in the Ligurian wines section.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it spelled “pansoti” or “pansotti”?
Both are found: the Ligurian name is “pansoti,” and in some areas it is spelled “pansotti.” It is the same dish.
What is preboggion?
A mixture of blanched wild herbs, typical of Ligurian cuisine and varying from region to region. It’s used as a filling for pansoti, as well as in minestrone and omelets. If you can’t find it, use Swiss chard or a mix of herbs including borage and chicory.
Can I use ricotta instead of prescinseua?
Yes. Prescinseua is hard to find outside of Liguria: with ricotta—preferably mixed with a little yogurt—you can make a similar filling.
Should the walnut sauce be heated?
No. It’s a raw sauce: thin it with a little of the pasta cooking water and pour it over the freshly drained pansoti.
Are pansoti vegetarian?
The filling doesn’t contain meat, so yes. They aren’t vegan: they contain eggs, cheese, and milk, and the Parmesan contains animal rennet.
When do people eat pansoti?
All year round. In many Ligurian homes, they are a Christmas Eve dish. The Italian Food Calendar commemorates them on March 5 as National Pansoti with Walnut Sauce Day.
Where are pansoti from?
From the Ligurian Riviera and Genoa. The first written mention dates from 1931 in Rapallo; several towns claim it originated there, but without evidence.