Corzetti

Corzetti are large coins of pasta from Liguria, made from flour and water, sometimes with a little egg and oil. Rolled not-too-thick, they are cut into discs and embossed on both sides using a pair of cylindrical fruit-wood stamps, hand-carved on the end-grain with a delicate pattern, normally the family coat of arms. Their name derives from an old Genovese money-piece via crosets – a pasta dating from the 14th century, and as long as your thumb. Although corzetti did begin as ancient crosets, they are not to be confused with crosets Piemontese – of the same origins, but now the northern equivalent of orecchiette – thumbnail-sized pieces of pasta lightly indented with a finger.