Pasta format typical of the Levante ligure.
In Italian, corzetti del Levante are described as ‘printed’ or ‘stamped’ because the decoration on these small circles of pasta is done with a wooden mold or stamp with 2 designs carved into it (one for each side of the pasta medallion). Some believe that the reason for the designs was to help the sauce cling better to the pasta.This type of pasta goes especially well with pesto, walnut or pine nut sauces.
Historically, this pasta dates back to the Middle Ages. Some food historians believe the name derives from the crozetto a 14th century Genoan coin. Both the crozetto and corzetti pasta medallions traditionally had a cross on one side. So, both names most probably also come from the Latin word ‘crux’ meaning cross. During the Renaissance, noble families had their cooks stamp the pasta circles with a mold that depicted their coat of arms. This mold was handed down from generation to generation and was a gift that a father-in-law made to his daughter-in-law at the time of her wedding.