When talking about Tuscan cured meats, the mind naturally turns to the great classics: finocchiona, prosciutto crudo, Tuscan salame. All aged cured meats, stars of the board and of the best-known tradition.
Less often told - but equally rooted - is the tradition of cooked cured meats. Cured meats that, instead of aging, are cooked in water, in melted lardo, or with other techniques, often starting from parts of the animal that aged salumeria does not use: the head, the tongue, the belly treated with heat. They are cured meats with a peasant history of pure reuse and of giving value to what is there, and today they find their place again on the tables of those seeking the authentic flavors of tradition.
Let’s look at three Tuscan cooked cured meats worth knowing: pancetta cooked in lardo from the Montagna Pistoiese, soprassata**** and Tuscan mortadella.
It is a cured meat born in the mountains that divide Tuscany from Emilia-Romagna, particularly in the areas of the Montagna Pistoiese: a territory that has always had a strong and inventive tradition of pork preservation, shaped by long winters and the rural economy.
How it is made
The pig belly, trimmed and squared, is flavored with a mince of fresh garlic and rosemary. Then comes the part that gives the cured meat its name: cooking in melted lardo. The pig lard, melted in a container, becomes the cooking medium in which the pancetta is immersed and slowly cooked for about three hours. It is not boiling in water, and not oven roasting: it is a special technique that allows the lardo fat to penetrate the piece, enrich it with flavor, and protect it from drying out.
Unlike classic aged pancetta, then, this one has no further aging phase: after cooking, it is ready to eat. The production process is shorter, but also more delicate - cooking in lardo requires constant attention to temperature, which must never exceed the right limits or the flavor will be altered.
The taste
The result is a cured meat with a very soft, almost creamy texture, and an intense aroma of garlic and rosemary - the two traditional herbs that blend perfectly with the fat of the belly and the cooking lardo. The flavor is full, bold, but without the aggressive saltiness of aged cured meats: here the richness of the fat, worked slowly, is what dominates.
How to eat it
Pancetta cooked in lardo is eaten cold, sliced thin, or slightly warmed in a pan or in the oven - gentle heat releases its aroma even better. It is excellent as a rustic appetizer, on Tuscan cured meat boards (where it brings a soft fatty element that aged cured meats lack), or served with freshly toasted Tuscan bread.
Soprassata is one of those cured meats that divide Italy by region. There are soprassate everywhere - Tuscan, Calabrian, Piedmontese - but they are completely different products. The Tuscan version has its own precise identity that is worth knowing.
How it is made
Tuscan soprassata is a cooked cured meat made mainly from pig head and tongue - parts of the animal that in peasant tradition were not wasted but enhanced through specific processing. The meat is slowly cooked in water for about three hours, together with aromas that are the signature of the Tuscan version: garlic, parsley, lemon zest. Some recipes add cloves and other spices.
After cooking, the meat is chopped (to a medium-coarse grain), seasoned with salt and pepper, and stuffed into a cloth casing - traditionally hand-sewn. The cured meat is then left to rest so it can set and take its final shape.
The taste
The taste of Tuscan soprassata is particularly rich: the citrus note of the lemon zest gives unexpected freshness, the parsley adds an herbal note, and the garlic adds depth. The result is a cured meat that tastes of cooked meat, yes, but transformed by a mix of aromas that make it less predictable than meat simply cooked.
The texture is compact but not hard, with visible pieces of meat in the mixture - it is not a pâté or a finely chopped cured meat, but neither is it a coarse mince. It is something in between, which allows the different textures of the parts used to be recognized.
How to eat it
It is always eaten cold, sliced not too thinly (2-3 millimeters is ideal) or else it crumbles. It is perfect for Tuscan appetizers, rustic boards, seasonal salads, and country-style sandwiches. A classic pairing is with boiled beans dressed with extra virgin olive oil, red onion, and the soprassata itself cut into cubes - a poor dish of the peasant tradition that today has found its place on the menus of typical restaurants.
Mortadella is probably the Italian cured meat most imitated abroad and most misunderstood: when abroad people speak of "mortadella," they think of the Bolognese version - finely homogenized meat, pistachios in evidence, uniform pink color. But Tuscany has its own mortadella, with a completely different identity that is worth describing.
How it is made
Tuscan mortadella is a cooked cured meat made from pork (shoulder and belly) ground to a medium grain, with visible cubes of fat. The seasoning follows local tradition: granulated garlic, white pepper powder, and whole peppercorns distributed through the mixture. Cooking takes place slowly in water, for about four hours, without hurry - the long time allows the aromas to penetrate evenly and the meat to reach the right consistency.
Compared with Bolognese mortadella, the Tuscan version does not include pistachios or the fine grinding that makes the mixture completely uniform. The structure remains visible when sliced: you can clearly distinguish the white cubes of fat and the dark peppercorns, elements that provide both flavor and visual recognition to the slice.
The taste
The taste of Tuscan mortadella is aromatic but balanced: the pepper stands out with a warm, direct note, and the granulated garlic adds depth without aggressiveness. It is not a cured meat dominated by a single strong flavor, but a whole that comes together on the palate, where the soft fat of the cubes and the savoriness of the cooked meat find balance in the blend of aromas.
The texture is soft but not as uniform as in the Bolognese version: there is structure, you feel the slice under your teeth, and the fat cubes melt in the mouth distinctly from the lean meat around them.
How to eat it
Tuscan mortadella is always eaten cold, sliced. The slice can be thin for boards and appetizers, or thicker - even half a centimeter - for rustic sandwiches, where the visible structure of the fat cubes gives character to each bite. It pairs well with freshly cut Tuscan bread, with fresh cheeses such as stracchino or ricotta, and with pickled vegetables.
In Tuscan cuisine, mortadella also appears in more elaborate preparations: fillings for savory pies, vegetable stuffings, composed salads. Unlike pancetta cooked in lardo, which can be warmed to bring out its aroma, mortadella is at its best at room temperature - heat would flatten its aromatic complexity.
These three cured meats share a common thread that goes beyond cooking technique: they are all products born from the peasant culture of not wasting anything. The head and tongue of the pig (soprassata), the belly worked with special techniques (pancetta cooked in lardo), the noble and less noble parts of the meat mixed together and transformed by long cooking (mortadella) - they are all practical answers to a world in which every part of the animal had to be valued, every preservation method had to work with the means available.
In high-level aged salumeria (prosciutto crudo, finocchiona, Tuscan salame) we find the "noble" side of tradition. In cooked cured meats we find the everyday, popular side that nourished Tuscan families for centuries. Today these are recipes that only a few producers continue to make, often tied to specific areas (such as the Montagna Pistoiese for pancetta cooked in lardo). Rediscovering them means bringing to the table a less told part of Italian tradition.
Compared with aged cured meats, cooked ones have slightly different uses that are worth knowing in order to enhance them:
On the board
On a board made only of aged cured meats, a cooked cured meat brings variety in texture and flavor. Pancetta cooked in lardo, in particular, works as a soft, fatty counterpoint to drier cured meats. Soprassata offers an aromatic profile unlike anything else thanks to the lemon zest. Small quantities - a few slices per person - are enough to enrich a board that would otherwise be monotonous.
As an ingredient in cooking
Tuscan mortadella enters the kitchen as an ingredient for cold or lukewarm preparations: finely chopped to fill savory pies or vegetable stuffings, diced in seasonal salads, or in thin layers on Tuscan rustic sandwiches. Pancetta cooked in lardo can be gently warmed in the oven to bring out its aroma. Since soprassata is already cooked, it does not require further cooking but can be added in cubes to warm salads or legume dishes.
Which bread to use
Unsalted Tuscan bread is always the best choice to accompany Tuscan cured meats, cooked ones included. For pancetta cooked in lardo, also consider hot crostini just toasted: the heat of the bread starts to slightly melt the cured meat, with a remarkable result. For soprassata, a rustic country bread with a firm crust is the ideal accompaniment.
What is the difference between pancetta cooked in lardo and classic aged pancetta?
They are two different products. Classic aged pancetta is only salted and left to age for months - it is not cooked. Pancetta cooked in lardo is flavored and then slowly cooked in melted fat, with no aging phase. The final result is very different: the aged one is drier and saltier, while the one cooked in lardo is soft and aromatic.
Is Tuscan soprassata similar to Calabrian soprassata?
No, they are two completely different products that share only the name. Calabrian soprassata is an aged, spicy cured meat made with lean meat cut by hand. The Tuscan one is a cooked cured meat, flavored with lemon and parsley, made mainly from head and tongue. When choosing at the deli counter, it is always worth specifying which of the two you are looking for.
Is Tuscan mortadella the same as Bolognese mortadella?
No, they are two products with the same name but different recipes and characteristics. Bolognese mortadella has finely homogenized meat, added pistachios, a uniform pink color, and a smooth texture. Tuscan mortadella has a coarser grind with visible fat cubes, contains no pistachios, and has a stronger seasoning with pepper and garlic. When sliced, the differences are clear: the Bolognese one is uniform, the Tuscan one has a recognizable structure slice by slice.
How should these cured meats be stored once opened?
Like all cooked cured meats, they should be kept in the refrigerator. Once the vacuum pack is opened, wrap them in kitchen paper or place them in an airtight container and consume them within a few days. Compared with aged cured meats, cooked ones are more delicate and should not be left at room temperature for long periods.
At our facility in Poggio a Caiano, in Tuscany, we produce pancetta cooked in lardo according to the Montagna Pistoiese recipe, soprassata according to the Tuscan tradition with lemon zest, and Tuscan mortadella with visible fat cubes seasoned with granulated garlic, white pepper, and whole peppercorns. All products are made with 100% Italian pork and by hand. In the carousel below you will find the full range of our cooked cured meats.
