Meet Giulia Lazzerini

Last updated: September 25, 2026

The first thing to understand about testaroli is that they are not pasta in any sense that a modern Italian kitchen would recognize. There is no kneading, no rolling, no shaping. There is a batter — flour, water, salt — and there is fire. Everything else is technique and time, and the technique has not changed in any meaningful way since the preparation was first documented in the medieval period, and possibly since Roman times.

Giulia Lazzerini makes testaroli at La Vecchia Cascina in Filattiera — a farmhouse in the central Magra Valley, on the stretch of road where the Via Francigena passes between Pontremoli and Villafranca. She is one of the named producers of the Testarolo Artigianale Pontremolese, the specific version that holds Slow Food Presidium status — distinguished from the mass-produced and commercially adapted versions by one non-negotiable detail: the cooking happens on cast-iron testi over wood fire.

The process

A testo is a two-piece cast-iron cooking implement: the sottano (bottom plate) sits directly over the flames; the soprano (lid) is heated separately and placed on top. The batter — which is thinner than pancake batter, closer to a crêpe — is poured onto the scorching sottano. The soprano goes on. The heat radiates from both sides simultaneously, and the batter cooks into a large disc roughly 40–45 centimeters across, pocked with evaporation holes that give it a distinctive texture somewhere between a flatbread and a crêpe.

The disc is removed, allowed to cool, then cut into diamond or roughly rectangular shapes. These are briefly blanched in boiling water — just long enough to soften them, not long enough to make them soggy — and dressed. The classic Pontremolese pairing is pesto, made in the local style: basil cut coarsely with a knife rather than pounded in a mortar, producing a rougher, more textured sauce than the Genovese version. Olive oil and Parmigiano is the minimalist option. Mushroom sauce — porcini, when the season and the forests cooperate — is the autumn alternative.

What makes the Presidium version different from the testaroli you can buy vacuum-packed in a supermarket is the fire. Cast-iron over wood produces uneven, intense heat that creates the slightly charred spots, the variation in thickness, the faint smokiness that is impossible to replicate with a gas flame or an electric plate. The Sarzana version of testaroli — from the lower Magra Valley — uses steel plates and gas, producing a denser, more uniform disc that is eaten unboiled. Both are legitimate traditions, but they are genuinely different preparations, and the argument over which is “real” testaroli can occupy an entire dinner.

The farm

La Vecchia Cascina is a working agricultural operation in Filattiera, not a dedicated testaroli workshop. Lazzerini’s production is part of a broader farm life that includes the cultivation of grains and vegetables suited to the Magra Valley’s climate and soils. The testaroli are made in relatively small quantities — this is artisanal in the original sense of the word, meaning one person making things by hand, not a brand strategy.

The farm’s position on the Via Francigena is not incidental. Filattiera has been a stopping point for travelers between the Cisa Pass and the coast for over a thousand years, and the food traditions of the area developed partly to feed people in transit. Testaroli — quick to prepare, filling, made from the simplest possible ingredients — are pilgrim food. The cast-iron testi were portable; the batter could be mixed from whatever flour was available. What began as convenience became tradition, and what was tradition became, in Lazzerini’s hands, a Slow Food Presidium.

The other producer: Testarolando

The other named Presidium producer is Testarolando, based in Pontremoli. What distinguishes Testarolando is their commitment to the grain itself: they grow heritage Wheat 23, a variety suited to the local terroir, and mill it for their testaroli flour. This grain-to-plate approach adds a layer that most producers skip — controlling the raw material as well as the cooking technique.

Between Lazzerini’s farmhouse in Filattiera and Testarolando’s operation in Pontremoli, the Testarolo Artigianale Pontremolese Presidium has two anchor points in the central Magra Valley — both accessible, both producing a version of Lunigiana‘s defining food that connects directly to the medieval kitchen.

Where to eat testaroli in Lunigiana

The Presidium producers make testaroli for purchase, but the dish is also served in virtually every restaurant in the valley. The best versions:

Osteria della Luna in Pontremoli — traditional testaroli with pesto or mushroom sauce, alongside lamb of Zeri (another Slow Food Presidium). The combination of two Presidia on one plate is Lunigiana in concentrated form.

Trattoria Norina in Pontremoli — no-nonsense home cooking where the testaroli are made the way they’ve always been made, without ceremony.

I Capitelli in Pontremoli — Gambero Rosso recommended, with a more refined presentation that still respects the essential simplicity.

Trattoria Il Cantinon in Filattiera — close to La Vecchia Cascina, serving the local version in the local landscape.

Sagra dei Testaroli in Tendola di Fosdinovo — an annual summer festival dedicated entirely to the dish, where you can watch the testi being fired and eat the result at communal tables.

The test of a good testarolo is texture: it should be tender but not mushy, with a slight chew from the blanching and irregular charred spots from the cast-iron cooking. If it’s uniform and smooth, it was probably made on a steel plate. If it tastes faintly of wood smoke, you’re in the right place.

Information is provided in good faith and may change. Always confirm opening hours, prices, and event dates with the official source before you travel.