Corzetti, Italian Pasta Discs
January 29, 2010 
I love to make hand crafted pasta and corzetti are such fun to make. They are pasta discs that are stamped with a design, which helps to hold a sauce. They are a regional pasta to Liguria in Italy. In medieval times, they were stamped with the Genovese family crests. To make them by hand, you must have a corzetti stamp.
The corzetti stamp consists of two pieces. One piece, the base, has a hollowed out side, for cutting the pasta discs. The other side of the base has a design and is the side on which you lay the pasta disc. The other piece of each corzetti set is the stamp, with a handle. This has a different design than the base.
Cut out discs of pasta with the cutting side of the stamp. (below, left)
Place cut pasta disc on top of the corzetti base. (below, right)
Take stamp top and press onto disc. (below)
You now have a disc with two different designs, one on each side. (below)
Corzetti stamps are not easy to find. There is a master craftsman, Franco Casoni, who lives in a small town, Chiaveri, and he hand carves these stamps and has supplied them to places like A. G. Ferrari . They are very hard to come by right now and A.G. Ferrari are usually out of stock. You can call them to see if they will be getting any in the future. I understand that Corti Brothers sometimes has them. If you are lucky enough to be in that area of Italy, near Genoa, you can stop in at Signore Casoni's shop and he will actually carve you a stamp right on the spot, with whatever design you like. For a fun account of people doing exactly that, read Divina Cucina's post about Franco and the stamp he made her. And you can watch this tutorial of making corzetti.
You can also find corzetti stamps at Artisanal Pasta Tools.
Corzetti with Parmesan, Pine Nuts and Herbs
for a printer friendly recipe, click here
It is common in Liguria to add a little wine to the pasta dough.
makes about 90 corzetti
Ingredients:
for the Dough:
- 1 cup all purpose flour or Italian 00 flour
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup white wine
for the Sauce:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 1/8 cup pine nuts, plain or toasted*
- handful of chopped herbs (parsley, basil, etc.)
- freshly ground black pepper, salt to taste
- freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
Instructions:
Make pasta dough: Place flour on workspace and make a well in the center. Place the egg yolks in the well and beat lightly with fork. Add white wine to beaten eggs and mix with the fork. Slowly incorporate the flour with the fork until a dough forms. Knead and add flour until the dough is not sticky any more. A pastry scraper helps a lot. This may take a little more flour - you need to just go by the feel of the dough. Wrap in floured plastic and let rest at room temperature for 15 - 30 minutes. Cut in half and take each piece and run it through pasta rollers on the widest setting. Fold in thirds and run through several more times. Adjust rollers to next thinnest setting and pass pasta through. Pass through until you get to the thickness you like - usually #4 or #5 for corzetti. If you make the pasta thinner, using #5, you will be able to make a few more corzetti. Lay pasta sheets on floured counter and cover with towel.
Cut out discs of pasta with your corzetti base and lay on sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet. You can take your scraps and run them through the pasta rollers again to get the maximum number of corzetti. Repeat until all pasta has been used and you have 80 - 100 discs of pasta.
Stamp corzetti: Turn corzetti base so design is right side up. Place one pasta disc on the base. Take the corzetti stamp and press down. Remove pasta disc to parchment. If pasta sticks to stamp, lightly flour. Repeat until all discs are stamped.
Place corzetti in boiling, salted water and cook two minutes. Lift with a strainer and dress with sauce.
(You can place the corzetti in the freezer on the baking sheets and then put them in plastic bags and keep in the freezer, if you like. No need to thaw to cook them.)
Sauce: Heat olive oil in a skillet and saute garlic for one minute. Add pine nuts and herbs. Add pepper and salt to taste. When corzetti are done cooking, lift them out with a strainer and place right into skillet. Toss with sauce. Place pasta in a serving bowl and toss with as much freshly grated parmesan cheese as you like.
* To toast pine nuts (this brings out their flavor a little more) place in a small, dry skillet and toast over medium heat until lightly golden.
Corzetti with pine nuts, parmesan and herbs.
Reader Comments (55)
How cute. Reminds me of stamped shortbread, only it's pasta. The finished product looks delicious.
I bought two bags ..in Italy..Seeing your fresh one has made me want to make them so much..You've done a beautiful honor to them.Just fabulous.
Finally finding time to read and explore your blog. Totally amazing! Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas, creative thoughts and beautiful photographs. What a wonderful way to learn about the good things in life. Thanks!
These are just so beautiful, Elaine. I've heard of these stamped pasta discs and it was wonderful to see how they're made. I will tuck this recipe away and hope to come by a stamp someday to make them. Thank you!
Yum! This looks delicious! I will wait for my pasta making class with you soon...and we should have Yvonne stop by and get us each our own Corzetti Stamp with our family's crest...
Beautiful! Would someone out there make this for me? I love the pine nuts, a Sicilian idea.
Hey Elaine. The pasta looks beautiful and delicious. Thanks for another yummy-looking inspiration!
Love this post. We make our own pasta, we will have to try this next!
non li ho mai mangiati :)
It's Chiavari, not Chiveri, I think.
Chiavari it' next to Genova and corzetti are from Liguria...
Can you buy a corzetti stamp locally?
I just keep coming back to look:) My husband and I will have some from Italy tomorrow because of you..What treasures you have there!
Those are beautiful. Wish I had a stamp. They look so good, too.
I have been intigued with those stamps for years, I need to get my hands on some, just beautiful Elaine, you're so inspiring!
Love it, Elaine! A few months back I was obsessed with finding a corzetti stamp but then forgot about it because of other projects. Now you've inspired me again. Just beautiful!
I just ordered one from Corti Bro. can't wait to try it.
This is an example of what I love about Italian food - so simple, so pretty, and I'm sure so delicious. I'm heading to Italy in April and every time I read one of your posts I get more excited!
What lovely pasta. Thank you for sharing this with us.
I think there are many of us out there that would love some of those stamps, I will have to take a visit next time I am in Europe! Your pasta dish looks delicious.
How inspiring Elaine. These look so lovely, almost too lovely to eat ;) but I bet they were delicious!
I don't think I've ever seen this type of pasta before - they are beautiful! I've just started making homemade pasta recently, and I'd love to try this. Funny, I used to live right down the street from A. G. Ferrari in SF, and Corti Bros. is in the town where I live now... might have to stop by there after work one night to see if they have any of the stamps on hand! First time visiting your blog. It's lovely. :)
this is astoundingly elegant and beautiful and i am floored...
it's this type of italian dish that makes me love italians/italian food/italian culture. food = art = beautiful = nourishing = tasty. it's the love and labor that goes into italian food that makes it special. bravo!
I just found your blog today for the first time and have thoroughly enjoyed reading some of your posts. The recipes, general facts & information, and the photos are really helpful, but the stories and the connection back to your Italian heritage make it especially sweet. Thank you!
I made the Corzetti for my husband on Valentines day, they were so pretty I gave a bag to my mother-in-law as a present wrapped with a red bow. I went to my local gourmet store and they did not have the stamps. Instead I used a short bread, ceramic cookie stamp (snowflake). The draw-backs of using the cookie stamp are that you can only stamp one side and you have to keep wiping olive oil on the stamp so it does not stick to the dough. End result is still lovely and DEElicious!
So, where can one purchase the Corzetti stamps. I live here in Spokane, Wa. Would appreciate it!
Thanks
I just ordered from
http://www.artisanalpastatools.com/classic.shtml
and I can't wait to try it out!
http://www.artisanalpastatools.com/classic.shtml fantastic site to order corzetti stamps.
I came over here from Proud Italian Cook - these presses are way too cool - I will be looking for these now - wow!
This post got me thinking about the endless possibilities of opening a small shop carving molds in Italy or elsewhere! think cookies, pasta, bread, etc.
Beautiful pasta, love to eat it as well as look at it.
I'm sorry I missed this post when it first appeared. I clicked after reading Marie's blog. I love the beautiful designs that emerged from your corzetti stamps. Next time I'm in Italy, I'll be on the lookout for one of those stamps.
I love your post about the corzetti stamps. I am learning about making pasta and enjoy seeing how you make this kind of pasta. The designs are beautiful!
So where can I get acorzetti stamp?
Where can I ge a corzetti stamp?
Where can I buy a carzetti stamp
I found corzetti stamps at fantes.com
Oh these look so good. I'm going to make them this weekend. I brought home my corzetti stamps from Italy. The only change I'm going to make to this is I'm going to steam butternut squash in a very small cube and add it to the sauce. Can't wait !!!
Is it possible to buy crotezzi already made?
Is it possible to buy crotezzi already made
Adellne: yes, you can buy online from many Italian food resources. Just google "corzetti pasta".
They look fantastic. Where would I get a stamp and can you have anything put on the stamp? Very clever!!!!!!!!!
I saw for the first time the Italian pasta disc on tv. A chef was using an old set of his Italian grandmothers. Now I see them on your web. Where can I buy them?
From The Italian Dish:
Susan: If you read my post, there are links for where to buy them. Plus, read through the reader comments for more sources.
Hi
you are a true inspiration for so many foodies. When I came across this recipe, I just had to get hold of that corzetti stamp. I found some on eBay Italy. The seller was fast and communicative although I don't speak Italian and he doesn't speak Dutch. The corzetti stamp got here (I also bought a gnocchi board and a pizzelle wafer iron). All I have to do now, is get at it. I'll let you know about the outcome.
http://myworld.benl.ebay.be/verbaniashop-trade/?_trksid=p4340.l2559
Corvette pasta tools can be purchased from artisanpastatools.com. They are hand made in California and are works of art! Have purchased them for gifts and the family members loved them.
I received my corzetti stamp from Artisanal Pasta Tools today. It is a work of art and I'm excited to give your recipe a try. Just wanted to endorse the U.S. manufactuer (I have absolutely no connection to them). I don't know what you pay in Italy for something like this but the one I got is definitely heirloom quality.
http://www.artisanalpastatools.com/
I never could work up the nerve to spend so much money on a real pasta stamp, so I've been using some terracotta cookie stamps (mine are by Rycraft) that don't cost much, comparatively speaking. I have some snowflake-ish patterns that are very pretty.
The bottoms of some drinking glasses and jelly jars can also work well.
Just make sure to grease and flour the stamp, and make sure the pasta is floured well also. (If it's dry enough to go through a pasta roller machine, it should be fine.)
It was so cute italian pasta dics. I would simply try this at home for a cute food presentation. Thanks for the share.
self inking rubber,
http://www.a1corp.com.sg/self-inking-stamp-singapore/
This is the best place to order a Corzetti Stamp.
They are beautiful. and made very well.
http://www.artisanalpastatools.com/index.shtml
OK. I got my corzetti stamp and followed the recipe for the dough. I love the texture of the dough but with just 1 cup of flour, I only got 46 discs. My pasta maker is numbered 8-1 with 8 being the widest. I took it down to 4 so I don't know if that is comparable to your 5-6 or not. I froze the pasta to use when my two sisters come to visit so I don't know how it will taste. Did I do it too thick and that is why I only got 46 discs? I love this website and look forward to all of your interesting recipes and ideas. Keep up the great work.