Served in nearly every restaurant throughout northern Friuli, cjalsòns are a type of stuffed pasta with a multitude of possible fillings. Every cook in every valley of the Carnia mountains prepares his or her own unique recipe, merging herbs and spices and creating a distinct shape and form for the dough. While there are generally two varieties—sweet and savory—the flavors often tend to overlap. They are all typically served in melted butter with a topping of cinnamon sugar and (usually) ricotta affumicata. The following are four varieties that I encountered in my travels through Carnia.
Cjalsòns della Valle del Bût
My favorite recipe comes from the now-closed Ristorante Salon in Piano d’Arta. The long list of ingredients includes potato, crushed biscotti, apple, pear, ricotta affumicata, dried currants or raisins, apricot jam, sugar, lemon zest, cocoa, cinnamon, and fresh herbs. In addition to the parsley, basil, mint, and marjoram that I use, the restaurant also added lemon balm, lemon verbena, and geranium.
Cjalsòns di Treppo Carnico
This version was served at the now-closed Ristorante Alle Vecchie Carceri in San Daniele del Friuli, although the recipe itself hailed from the village of Treppo Carnico, former home of the restaurant’s chef. Ingredients include potato, caramelized onion, raisins, parsley, sugar, and lemon zest.
Cjalsòns di Pontebba
I sampled this version at the Sagra dei Cjalsòns in Pontebba, a small village near Tarvisio. The only one on this list not topped with smoked ricotta, it is filled with a medley of dried fruit—figs, prunes, and raisins—that has been stewed in red wine and mixed with fresh ricotta and cinnamon.
Cjalsòns di Piedim
I didn’t have the opportunity to visit Piedim during my trips, but I did taste similar sweet cjalsòns throughout the region, where some restaurants actually offered a dish such as this on their dessert menu. Ingredients in this version include fresh ricotta, crushed biscotti, peanuts, walnuts, candied lemon peel, chocolate, grappa, plum jam, honey, cocoa, cinnamon, and lemon zest.
Recipes for all four of these dishes may be found in my cookbook Flavors of Friuli: A Culinary Journey through Northeastern Italy.
