Testaroli al Pesto
A thin pancake cooked on a hot stone, cut into diamonds and dipped in boiling water. Arguably the oldest pasta in Italy and barely known outside Lunigiana.
Photograph credit: Testaroli-Pesto-Pontremoli-2800 by J.P.Lon · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Storing and Planning Ahead
The cooked pancakes keep 3 days refrigerated and freeze for a month. Finish to order.
Making Testaroli al Pesto
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Whisk the flour, water, salt and oil into a thin, smooth batter, about the consistency of single cream. Rest 30 minutes.
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Pound the pesto ingredients in a mortar: garlic and pine nuts first, then basil, then cheese, then the oil trickled in.
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Heat a heavy 26 cm pan over medium heat and wipe it with oil.
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Pour in a thin ladle of batter, swirl to coat, and cook on one side only for 3 minutes, until the top is set and dry and the base is pale gold with brown spots. Do not turn it.
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Stack the cooked testaroli under a cloth and repeat. Cut them into 5 cm diamonds.
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Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and then take it off the heat completely.
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Drop the diamonds in for 60 seconds, lift them out with a slotted spoon, and dress immediately with pesto, parmesan and oil.
Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Pan and tin size.
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Worth Knowing
- One side only. A turned testarolo goes tough.
- Water off the heat for the second cooking, or they dissolve.
- Sixty seconds, no more.
Why the Method Is What It Is
Testaroli are cooked twice and the second cooking is barely a cooking at all — the cut diamonds go into water that has been brought to the boil and then taken off the heat, for about a minute. Water still boiling will disintegrate them completely. The pancake itself is cooked on one side only and should stay pale and slightly spongy, since it needs to absorb the water and then the pesto.
Serving Ideas
A glass of Vermentino · Green salad · More pesto
If You're Missing Something
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
Quick Answers
How long does Testaroli al Pesto take to make?
20 minutes of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking, plus 30 minutes of resting, so allow 1 hour 20 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 4.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Vegetarian when made with a hard cheese made without animal rennet in place of the parmigiano reggiano.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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