The pie that brings people together… is savoury!
Traveling through Italy also means getting lost in the aromas wafting from the ovens of regional kitchens, where savoury pies tell ancient stories of tradition, family, and the changing seasons. In this journey from north to south, the common thread is a dough that rises, fills with local flavours, and transforms into a dish that’s convivial, simple, and surprising.
We begin in the Aosta Valley to taste frecacha, a mountain-style savoury pie made with boiled potatoes and fontina cheese, sometimes enriched with eggs and pancetta. Soft and melty, it’s perfect for cold winter days—perhaps after a nice day on the ski slopes—but it knows no season and can be prepared all year round.
Heading down toward Liguria, we encounter torta verde, made with a filling of zucchini, onions, rice, and wild herbs that blend into a mixture wrapped in a thin, simple, and fragrant crust—born from peasant cooking. Also, in this region, the recently passed Easter carries the unmistakable flavour of torta pasqualina. Prepared with ultra-thin pastry sheets—once as many as thirty-three, symbolizing the years of Christ—it encloses a filling of Swiss chard or spinach, ricotta, grated cheese, and whole eggs that, when baked, create a visually stunning effect when sliced.
From Genoa we move to Reggio Emilia, home of erbazzone, a rustic and savoury pie: spring onions, chard, pancetta, and Parmigiano Reggiano are wrapped in a thin, crunchy, and aromatic crust—an ode to the most authentic Emilian cuisine.
In Tuscany, around the Lucca area, we find the unique torta coi becchi: its name comes from the pinched edges of the crust, both decorative and functional. The filling combines chard, raisins, pine nuts, and cheese, in an unusual but harmonious balance between sweet and savoury.
Arriving in the South, Campania welcomes us with three great classics: pizza chiena, casatiello, and pizza di scarola. The first is a rich pie filled with cured meats, cheeses, ricotta, and eggs, enclosed in a soft and compact dough. The second is a leavened dough that embraces lard, salami, pecorino, and whole eggs embedded in the crust, with a ring shape symbolizing the cyclical nature of life and the Easter celebration. The third is a rustic pie filled with sautéed escarole, capers, black olives, pine nuts, and raisins.
In nearby Puglia, one cannot miss the delicious calzone or rustico di cipolle, a dish made with a thin crust filled with olives, capers, tomatoes, anchovies, and of course, plenty of sponsali onions (a local variety of spring onions).
Finally, crossing the sea, we arrive in Sardinia with the panada, a pie with a thick and crunchy crust, stuffed with meat (often lamb or pork), potatoes, herbs, and in some versions, tomato. Each area has its own take, but all of them speak of an island deeply tied to its land and traditions.
In all these recipes, yeast plays a fundamental role. It’s what gives life to the doughs, makes them soft or crisp, and accompanies the aroma that signals a delicious pie fresh from the oven.
This was our selection of savoury pies—do you know any others?