Tortun di Castel Vittorio, an out of the ordinary Ligurian zucchini pie.

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Castel Vittorio is an ancient medieval village that has dominated the Val Nervia from above since the 12th century. We are in the backcountry of Ventimiglia, on the border with France.

The locals here are very proud not only of their past, full of conquests and sieges, but also of their agricultural products from the mountains (including their notable EVO oil) and their culinary traditions.

In particular, they are very proud of a gigantic vegetable pie that has always been baked in a wood-fired oven directly on the stone slab, without a baking tray, and which was registered in 2007 as De.Co, Denominazione Comunale di Origine, to certify its historical link with the place.

This is the Tortun di Castel Vittorio, a Ligurian vegetable pie, but a bit unusual.

In fact, it is prepared with a single large disc of very thin unleavened dough (instead of many layers), which folded over itself encloses a filling of local zucchinis cut into very small cubes and placed strictly raw in the baking tray (in winter, field herbs are used), mountain potatoes, a handful of rice, and a bit of local cheese (Tuma of the valley, not easy to find outside the area).

The zucchinis that grow in Castel Vittorio are somewhat special because they are very large, light green, sometimes white. Similar to pumpkins, they need to be hollowed out, and the seeds removed before being cut. But the pie turns out great with any type of zucchini, as long as it is seasonal and fresh!

Every year in August, Castel Vittorio hosts the “Sagra del Tortun” with a culinary competition among housewives. Not to be missed! (check the date on the Proloco Facebook profile).

The recipe for Tortun di Castelvittorio

For the perfect success of this recipe, here are some small tips:

• Use only very fresh summer zucchinis, the small, light green, firm ones, maybe with the flower still attached. If you want to use Ligurian zucchinis, you can buy them online and receive them fresh at your home (in Italy and Europe) thanks to the online site Palatifini.it. You can buy both traditional Ligurian zucchinis and trumpet zucchinis!
• Pre-cook the rice very briefly, it will finish cooking inside the dough, absorbing the water released by the vegetables.
• Roll out the dough very thinly, but not too thin. There’s a risk it will burn before the filling is cooked.
• Trust me, there’s no need to blanch anything, the raw zucchinis and potatoes (cut very small) will cook wonderfully inside the dough.
• The Tuma cheese of the valley, unless you are from the far western Liguria, is difficult to find. You can replace it with another soft, lightly aged cheese.