The first time I came across cappellacci di zucca, I had to read the ingredient list twice. Pumpkin, crushed amaretti cookies, nutmeg, and aged Parmigiano, all sealed inside a thin sheet of egg pasta and finished with browned butter and sage. It sounded like a dessert that somehow wandered into the pasta course. But this isn’t a modern experiment in fusion cooking. This dish has been around since the 1500s, when the Este court in Ferrara served filled pasta that didn’t bother with the line between sweet and savory.
What Exactly Is Cappellacci di Zucca?
Think of it as Ferrara’s signature pasta, and one of Italy’s most distinctive.
Cappellacci di zucca are pumpkin-filled pasta shapes that resemble the wide-brimmed hats worn by local farmers — the name comes from cappellaccio, or “big hat.” In the local dialect, they’re called caplàz. The dough is rolled thin enough to show the shadow of your hand through it, then cut into squares and folded around a filling of roasted zucca violina squash, Parmigiano-Reggiano, breadcrumbs, and freshly grated nutmeg.
What makes them unusual, even by Italian pasta standards, is the filling. The pumpkin is naturally sweet, and the crushed amaretti add a faint bitter-almond note that keeps everything in check. Nutmeg is non-negotiable — without it, the dish loses its warmth. The whole thing gets dressed simply with melted butter and crisp sage leaves, nothing more. A meat ragù is acceptable for Christmas, but butter and sage is the everyday standard.
The dish earned Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status from the European Union in 2016, which means authentic cappellacci di zucca can only be prepared within the province of Ferrara. The recipe itself goes back much further. Cristoforo di Messisbugo, steward to the Este dukes, published a filled-pasta recipe in his 1549 cookbook Banchetti, composizioni di vivande, and Giovanni Battista Rossetti recorded the pumpkin version in 1584.
Cristoforo di Messisbugo’s 1549 cookbook records filled pasta on the Este ducal table — the sweet-savory filling is a direct survival of the Renaissance palate, not a modern invention.
The Squash That Started It All
The star ingredient is zucca violina, a local variety of Cucurbita moschata shaped like a violin case. Its dense, vibrant orange flesh is naturally sweeter and drier than most pumpkins, which is exactly what you need for pasta filling. The squash was first cultivated in the Ferrara area in the 16th century, after New World crops arrived in Europe.
How you cook the pumpkin matters more than almost anything else. It must be roasted — never boiled. Raw pumpkin flesh is about 90 percent water, and boiling only adds more, turning the filling into a runny mess that will leak through the pasta seams. Roasting halves in a dry oven concentrates the sugars and deepens the flavor. Daniele Braghini, a second-generation farmer whose land sits near Ferrara’s medieval walls, supplies zucca violina to local pasta makers like Panificio Cappelli. In 2023, six severe hail storms hit his fields, causing a 30 percent loss of his pumpkin crop — a reminder that extreme weather tied to climate change threatens even deeply rooted food traditions.
Pumpkin crop loss from hail storms in 2023, reported by Ferrara farmer Daniele Braghini
atlasobscura.com
Where to Find the Real Thing in Ferrara
The best cappellacci di zucca aren’t found in the tourist spots near Castello Estense. You want the medieval streets of the former Jewish Ghetto, where small trattorias have been making pasta by hand for generations.
Trattoria da Noemi sits in a 14th-century building, and the rolling pin is in constant use. The cappellacci here come dressed simply with butter and sage, which is exactly the right way to let the pumpkin flavor shine. Hostaria Savonarola is a warmer, louder spot where locals still speak in dialect. Their specialty is salama da sugo — a rich, spiced pork sausage served over mashed potatoes — but their pasta is worth the trip too.
October through December is peak season for cappellacci di zucca. Pumpkins are freshly harvested, and the flavor is at its best. Many restaurants serve the dish year-round, but the autumn version is noticeably better.
For a meal in the medieval quarter, Trattoria Il Mandolino makes cappellacci daily by hand. A plate runs about €12, and a full meal with wine comes to €30–35. Reservations are a good idea on weekends. Osteria Al Brindisi has been pouring wine since 1435 — it claims to be the oldest wine bar in the world — and while the claim is disputed, the atmosphere and the salama da sugo (€14) are genuinely local. Just be prepared to eat it with a spoon; the sausage is too soft to cut.
A Festival That Skips Halloween for Pasta
While much of Italy has embraced Halloween, the town of San Carlo, about 12 miles from Ferrara, spends the final weekend of October doing something else entirely. The Sagra della Zucca e del suo Cappellaccio Ferrarese I.G.P. is a festival dedicated to pumpkins and pasta. Locals feast on cappellacci di zucca instead of trick-or-treating, and the event has become a seasonal tradition that embodies Ferrara’s connection to its land and history.
Tamara Savran, who makes cappellacci at Panificio Cappelli, produces about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of pasta per week in summer and up to 50 kilograms (roughly 110 pounds) per week in the cooler months near the winter holidays. The festival crowd only adds to that demand.
What to Drink with a Renaissance Pasta
Cappellacci di zucca demands a wine with enough acidity to cut through the browned butter and enough character to stand up to the sweet-savory filling. The local answer is Lambrusco di Sorbara, a dry, slightly fizzy red with high acidity and notes of tart sour cherry and violets. It’s not the sweet Lambrusco that was exported to the US in the 1980s — this is the real thing, pale and frothing, and it works perfectly.
Romagna Albana DOCG, often called Italy’s first DOCG white wine, is another excellent choice. Its structure and body handle the density of the pumpkin filling, and its notes of yellow peach and apricot mirror the sweetness of the squash without overwhelming it. A dry Pignoletto from the Colli Bolognesi, with its green apple and almond finish, also pairs naturally with the sage and Parmigiano. If you’re ordering wine in a Ferrara restaurant, decent bottles of Lambrusco run about €15–18.
Before You Go to Ferrara
Is cappellacci di zucca the same as pumpkin ravioli?
Not really. Cappellacci are larger than typical ravioli, shaped like a folded triangle wrapped around your fingertip to create a hat form. The dough-to-filling ratio is different, and the PGI designation means the authentic version can only be made in Ferrara province.
What if I don’t like sweet pasta?
The filling is savory first, with sweetness coming second. The amaretti and nutmeg pull it back toward the savory side. That said, poorly made versions can lean too sweet — look for places that use aged Parmigiano (30 months or more) and real nutmeg, not artificial flavoring.
When is the best time to visit Ferrara for food?
April through June and September through October are ideal for weather and seasonal ingredients. November and December bring fog and the best pumpkin pasta. August is worth skipping — many restaurants close, the heat is heavy, and mosquitoes are relentless.
Is Ferrara worth visiting if I’m not a food person?
Yes. The city’s Renaissance street plan is remarkably intact — UNESCO listed the entire fortified city in 1995. The Castello Estense is one of Italy’s few genuine city-center castles with a water-filled moat, and the nine-kilometer circuit of city walls is a functioning public park where locals bike and walk. Ferrara rewards slow looking, and most tourists are on the train to somewhere else.
Can I make cappellacci di zucca at home?
You can, but the dish is unforgiving. The pumpkin must be roasted until dry, the pasta rolled to about 0.8 mm, and the filling rested overnight so the breadcrumbs absorb excess moisture. Even experienced home cooks often find the filling leaks. A good alternative is to seek out fresh cappellacci from a specialty shop and finish them with butter and sage at home.
One of the Best Reasons to Visit Ferrara
Ferrara doesn’t market itself hard. It’s a city that was planned by one family, built in one period, and then preserved by historical accident when the Este dynasty collapsed and the city stopped growing. The walls still encircle the old town, the castle still has its moat, and the trattorias in the Jewish Ghetto still roll pasta by hand. Cappellacci di zucca is the edible version of that same story — a Renaissance creation that survived because it was too good to forget.
If you’re planning a trip to Emilia-Romagna, don’t skip Ferrara for another day in Bologna. The train takes less than an hour, and the pumpkin pasta alone is worth the ride.
Sources and further reading
Atlas Obscura. “How Pumpkin-Filled Pasta Became a Taste of Renaissance Italy.” 2023. 🔗
RoamGuru. “Ferrara Italy Culture & History Guide.” 🔗
Dreaming Italy. “The Velvet Gold of Ferrara: Discovering the Soul of Emilia-Romagna Through Cappellacci di Zucca.” 🔗
UNESCO. “Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta.” 1995. 🔗
Related reading on Emily in Italy
Embrace Spring Blooms in Emilia-Romagna’s Nature — A guide to the region’s seasonal landscapes and outdoor experiences beyond the table.
Bologna Sojourn: Italian Weekends and Culinary Discovery — How to build a long weekend around Bologna’s food scene, with tips for day-tripping to Ferrara.