Our link with the region and our traditions are essential for us, to the point that our Pastifico often supports the traditional local events and festivals.
Amongst several events, the most significant is on the 25th April – celebrated in Italy as the Liberation Day – on the hills of Santa Croce, situated in between Sori, Pieve Ligure and Bogliasco. On this day, we hand-make pansoti with preboggion, which is a mix of wild herbs of different types. There are about 52 herbs which fall under the category ‘preboggion’, reason why the taste of this magical mix/hand-made pansoti is always different, depending on the herbs that have been harvested and used for the filling.
The tradition – which goes well back to the past – is to raise funds to support the small church of Santa Croce, which is situated at the very top of the hill.
Some years ago we have decided to take part to the event and donate the raw ingredients for the dough as well as the walnuts sauce, which is the perfect dressing with pansoti. A few days prior the feast, the volunteers go on the ridge looking for preboggion, in order to collect as much fresh herbs as possible. Pansoti are all hand-made the same morning of the feast, and closed by hand one by one inside the Church of Santa Croce.
This event gathers families, teenagers and kids from all over Golfo Paradiso and Genoa,: they meet there from the first lights of the morning that is when they start making lunch. Once the pansoti are made, cooked and ready to be eaten, they are placed on some trays that are distributed on the benches of the church, which are used as tables for this particular occasion.At midday when the pansoti are ready, all the people who have reached the Hill of Santa Croce, can taste not only some delicious hand-made pansoti with walnut-sauce but also enjoy the spectacular view and landscape over Golfo Paradiso.
