There are pasta shapes that are satisfying to make, and then there are pasta shapes that feel like a genuine act of craft. Corzetti fall into the second category.
This flat, coin-shaped pasta from Liguria — the region that hugs Italy's northwestern coastline — are pressed with a carved wooden stamp that leaves a decorative motif on each piece. Historically, noble Ligurian families had stamps carved with their family crests, a way of literally marking their food with their identity. Today you'll find stamps with flowers, wheat sheaves, geometric patterns, animals, and the iris or giglio motif that's long been associated with the region. There are even a handful of corzetti stamp artisans that will make custom stamps for you, with your own family name or emblem.
In my opinion, the tool is what makes corzetti so fun to make, although there are workarounds for creating them without a stamp, which I talk about below.
What Make Corzetti Special
The shape itself is simple — a flat disc, about the size of a large coin, roughly ⅛-inch thick. But the dough is what distinguishes corzetti from every other pasta you've probably made. Instead of the standard egg-and-water combination, the traditional Ligurian recipe uses egg, water, and dry white wine. The wine adds a subtle acidity that you can't quite place but definitely notice, and it gives the dough a soft, pliable texture and a faint golden hue that deepens when cooked.
The flat surface is also a functional choice, not just a decorative one. Corzetti are traditionally served with lighter sauces — herb-forward preparations, walnut sauce, pesto genovese — where the goal is to coat the pasta rather than trap it inside a fold. The embossed texture from the stamp helps the sauce cling without overwhelming the pasta itself.
For this recipe, we're pairing them with a herby anchovy butter: melted butter, oil-packed anchovies that dissolve completely into the fat, garlic, chili flakes, capers, lemon, and flat-leaf parsley. Finished with a handful of golden toasted breadcrumbs. It's one of those sauces that reads as simple and delivers something considerably more interesting — briny, bright, a little spicy, deeply savory.
The Recipe: Corzetti with Herby Lemon Anchovy Butter
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the corzetti dough:
400 grams 00 flour
1 whole egg
65 ml lukewarm water
65 ml dry white wine
For the sauce:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 oil-packed anchovy fillets
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon chili flakes
3 tablespoons capers, roughly chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
Splash of lemon juice, to taste
2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Black pepper, to taste
For the breadcrumbs:
1 baguette (or store-bought panko — see note below)
3–4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, smashed and left unpeeled
1 sprig of thyme (optional)
Kosher salt, to taste
Special equipment:
You'll need a corzetti stamp — the two-part wooden tool with a cutting base and a decorative top. You use the base like a cookie cutter to punch out circles, then press the top into each disc to emboss the design. A pasta machine is helpful here too, though a confident hand with a rolling pin will also get you to the right thickness (about ⅛-inch).
If you don't have a corzetti stamp, you can still make corzetti! All you need is a 2-inch round cookie cutter or small class to cut out circles. For the embossed look, you can press the corzetti discs over any ridged surface, such as a gnocchi board, cavarola board, colander, or the bottom of a crystal class.
Method
Make the dough. Mound the flour on a clean wooden board and make a well in the center. Add the egg, water, and wine. Use a fork to gradually work the flour in from the edges, mixing until a shaggy dough forms. Switch to your hands and knead for about 10 minutes — stretch forward with the heel of your hand, fold, rotate 90 degrees, repeat — until the dough is smooth and elastic. If it's sticking, add a little more flour. If it feels dry and won't come together, add a splash more water. Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic, and rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
Sheet the dough. Divide the rested dough into four pieces, keeping the rest covered while you work. Feed each piece through your pasta machine, starting at the widest setting. Fold the sheet in thirds like a letter — this trifold pass aligns the gluten and gives you a cleaner, more even sheet — then run it through the widest setting again. Continue rolling, adjusting one setting thinner each pass, until you reach setting 4. You're aiming for about ⅛-inch thick.
Stamp the corzetti. Lay the sheet on your work surface. Use the bottom half of the corzetti stamp to punch out circles, pressing straight down with even pressure. Remove the scrap dough as you go — it can be rolled out once more, then saved for soup pasta or tagliatelle after that. For each circle: place it on the larger flat base of the stamp, then press the decorative top down firmly to emboss the design. Set each stamped corzetto on a floured baking sheet lined with a kitchen towel. Repeat until all the dough is used.
*Make the breadcrumbs. If starting from a baguette: preheat your oven to 250°F. Slice the baguette lengthwise and scoop out the soft interior, leaving the crust intact. Place cut-side down on a baking sheet and bake for 20–25 minutes until hardened. Once cool, break into chunks and pulse in a food processor until you have coarse crumbs — nothing bigger than ¾-inch. Pour over a fine mesh sieve and let the very fine crumbs fall through (save those for breading). Warm a skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil, drop in the smashed garlic cloves and thyme. Toast 1–2 minutes until fragrant, then add the breadcrumbs. Stir and toast until deep golden. Remove the garlic and thyme, season with salt, and set aside. If using store-bought panko, skip straight to the pan-toasting step.
Make the sauce. In a large saucier or wide pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the anchovy fillets and stir, using a wooden spoon to break them up as they melt. Within about two minutes they'll dissolve completely into the butter — don't rush this. Add the garlic and chili flakes and cook gently until soft and fragrant, about a minute. Add the capers and lemon zest and stir to combine.
Cook and finish. Salt your pasta water lightly — the anchovies and capers will add significant salt at the end, so hold back here. Cook the corzetti for 5–6 minutes until al dente. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them directly into the sauce, carrying a splash of pasta water with them. Add the parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice and toss gently to coat.
Serve on a flat plate — a flatter plate lets the corzetti spread out so the embossed patterns are visible — and finish with a generous handful of toasted breadcrumbs. Serve immediately.
A Few Notes
On the wine in the dough: A dry white wine with some acidity works best — a basic Italian white, Pinot Grigio, or whatever you'd drink with dinner. Avoid anything oaked or sweet. The wine flavor mostly cooks off; what remains is a barely perceptible brightness in the dough.
On the anchovies: Oil-packed anchovies are non-negotiable here. The dry-salted kind need rinsing and tend to stay more intact in the butter; oil-packed dissolve beautifully into the fat and leave no fishiness behind, just depth. If you've ever cooked with anchovies and loved the result but forgotten they were there, that's the goal.
On the salt: Go easy on the salt in your pasta water — noticeably lighter than you would for a standard pasta dish. Between the anchovies, capers, and any Parmesan you might add at the table, there's plenty of salt coming.
On the breadcrumbs: They're not just garnish. The crunch against the soft pasta and buttery sauce is what holds the whole dish together. Don't skip them, and don't skimp! Consider making a large batch, and storing them in an airtight container. You'll want more of them, trust me.
On freezing: Corzetti freeze well. Arrange in a single layer on a tea towel-lined tray, freeze uncovered for 20 minutes until solid, then transfer to a sealed bag with as much air removed as possible. Cook directly from frozen — no defrosting — and add a minute or two to the cooking time. Keeps for up to two weeks. The breadcrumbs can also be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to four weeks.
The Stamp Makes All the Difference
A corzetti stamp is one of those tools that feels like a splurge right up until the moment you use it. Then it becomes the thing you pull out every time someone comes to dinner, partly because the pasta is genuinely delicious, and partly because watching someone stamp their first corzetto is its own small pleasure.
The stamps we carry at qb Cucina are carved in Italy from pear wood — the traditional choice — with the iris and giglio motif that nods to Ligurian heritage. You can find them in our shop here → Corzetti Stamps
*Made corzetti at home? We'd love to see your stamped coins — tag us @qbcucina on Instagram.
*If you want to go deeper on corzetti — the full history, the technique, and a live class where we make them together — this is exactly the kind of pasta we explore in the qb Pasta Club every month. Join the waitlist here →
*Breadcrumb recipe adapted from the Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs in Italian American by Angie Rito & Scott Tacinelli.