Last Updated: April 22, 2022
Traditional Food in Umbria
Going on a road trip through Umbria and wondering which foods you should try? You’re in luck because this detailed guide has all the best Umbrian food that’s a delight to the senses!
Italian cuisine is famous worldwide, but Umbrian food is slightly different from what most people would consider Italian cuisine. It represents the foods that are commonly eaten in central Italy, with a heavy focus on cured meats, simple desserts, and soups. Keep reading to see all the Umbrian cuisine staples that you need to try when you’re visiting!
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Umbria Olive Oil
Italy is the world’s second-largest producer of olive oil and Umbria accounts for a chunk of the production. Situated in the heart of the boot-shaped country, the region’s rolling hills are known for fertile soil and they’re home to countless vineyards and olive groves. That’s why Umbrian olive oil is special and definitely something you should try while you’re traveling through the region.
Nobody’s suggesting that you eat it by the spoonful, but you should definitely purchase a couple of bottles if you stumble across a local seller. Local olive oil always tastes better than the stuff you buy in the store, and it’s perfect for use in salads and pasta dishes.
Also, it’s worth noting that Umbria is particularly known for the region’s extra virgin olive oil. It’s won numerous awards, and it’s by far the best (and healthiest) of all the local olive oils.
Crescionda
Crescionda is a popular dessert in Umbria that originated in the Middle Ages. it’s a type of chocolate cake that’s like a sweet version of focaccia, another delicious Italian food worth trying. It’s made with chocolate, Amaretti, a touch of lemon zest, cocoa powder, some ground cinnamon, powdered sugar, and milk.
The cake texture is very creamy and spongy, and it’s a very light dessert despite the chocolate and Amaretti. It’s absolutely delicious and it’s the one Umbrian food that hardcore sweet teeth should definitely try. Crescionda is best served chilled from the fridge, but it can be served at room temperature as well.
Torta al Testo
Torta al Testo, also known as screscia or caccia, is a kind of unleavened bread popular in Umbrian cuisine. It’s a type of flatbread that’s often used to make sandwiches in the shape of a pizza slice, and it’s very popular breakfast food in Umbria.
Torta al Testo is made with simple ingredients and you can try to make it at home – flour, water, bicarbonate, and salt. Mix it up until you get a good dough consistency, roll it out so it’s flat, and cook it in a pan. It’s traditionally cooked in a cast iron pan, which is Testo in Italian, hence the name of the dish.
The flatbread is usually stuffed with cheeses, cold cuts, cured meats, herbs, and anything you’d usually put in a sandwich really. It’s an affordable fast food that you can easily find all over the Umbria region, and it’s a great dish to have for breakfast while you’re exploring Umbria!
Pasta alla Norcina
It’s no secret that pasta dishes are one of the major staples of Italian cuisine, and that’s true for the region of Umbria in central Italy as well. Pasta alla Norcina is a creamy pasta dish with sausages, which are everywhere in Umbrian cuisine.
Cured meats and sausages are very common in Umbria, but the town of Norcia is by far the best known for them. Pasta alla Norcina originates from this town, so it’s definitely the best place to try the dish while you’re traveling through Umbria.
The dish is usually made with short pasta, most often penne or rigatoni, Norcia sausages, a bit of grated pecorino, onion, fresh cream, and white wine. It’s sometimes served with black truffles, but only when they are in season.
Porchetta
Porchetta is one of the most popular meat dishes in Umbrian cuisine. It’s a type of pork roast that’s boneless, fatty, and moist. When preparing porchetta, the first step is to debone the carcass. Then it gets stuffed with lard, garlic, liver, wild fennel, and skin, and it’s roasted on a spit for about eight hours.
It might not sound extremely appetizing, but if you like eating pork you will absolutely enjoy this Umbrian dish. The meat can be served in sandwiches, with veggies on the side, or in any way you want – it’s exactly like lamb on a spit in that sense.
It’s worth noting that Porchetta is food eaten all over Italy, and every region has its own twist. The stuffing in the pig usually differs from region to region, and garlic, pepper, and wild fennel are specific to the region of Umbria.
Rocciata
Rocciata is one of the traditional Umbrian desserts that have been around for ages. It’s made with simple ingredients with flour-based dough as a base, and a filling of walnuts, olive oil, sugar, and apples. The dough is made from wheat flour, water, and oil, it’s rolled quite thin, and then it’s filled up with the mixture.
The dough is traditionally twisted or rolled into a circular shape before baking. This is especially common for Rocciata di Assisi, which is the most common dessert variant found in the region of Umbria.
Traditionally, rocciata is most often prepared in late autumn and winter because it’s easy to find fresh walnut at the markets. It’s also typically prepared for All Saints’ Day and Christmas, as well as for other celebrations that take place in the autumn or winter.
Imbrecciata
Imbrecciata is a hearty soup that’s considered one of the most traditional dishes in Umbria. It’s made with stewed beans, lentils, and legumes, and it’s definitely not your average, boring soup.
The most popular of the Umbrian soups is quite hearty and strong, and it’s definitely filling enough that you’ll barely want to eat any bread with it. The dish is usually served hot, but it can sometimes be served cold, especially if it’s not eaten as the main course but as an appetizer or a side dish.
Imbrecciata is another dish that’s linked to the peasant tradition in Umbria since all its ingredients are fairly cheap. Throughout history, the soup was prepared with all the legumes and cereals that people would already have at home, and it’s substantial enough to be eaten as a stand-alone dish even without any bread or crackers on the side.
Impastoiata
Impastoiata is another traditional soup from the Umbria region. It’s made with a mixture of cornmeal (polenta), onions, tomatoes, garlic, cannellini beans, and olive oil, while the seasonings include rosemary, black pepper, and sage. Impastoiata is a very hearty soup and it’s generally more of a proper dish than an appetizer.
The name of the dish is derived from the Italian word impastare, which means to knead. It’s an apt translation since the consistency of Impastoiata is more similar to that of dough than of proper soup, when you’re done cooking it. It’s typical to add the stewed beans to polenta while it is cooking, so the flavors can all have enough time to mix and blend.
The “soup” is served warm, usually with a light drizzle of olive oil on top. It can also be served with pancetta, but this is a matter of personal preference.
Fettuccine con la Ricotta
Fettuccine con la Ricotta is another pasta dish those who love Italian food will absolutely adore. It’s a simple dish to make and it only requires six ingredients – egg fettuccine, ricotta cheese, parmesan, lemon, salt, and pepper.
The lemon pairs incredibly well with fresh ricotta, making this dish very light and refreshing. I’m betting you didn’t think you’d hear those two words in a description of a cheesy pasta dish, but it’s true!
The dish is popular throughout the entire Umbria region, and you should be able to find it in most decent restaurants. Food lovers should make this dish a priority since it is so incredibly delicious that it’s better to have it sooner rather than later.
Stringozzi alla Spoleto
Stringozzi alla Spoleto are a typical Umbrian pasta dish. Stingozzi is a type of long, fresh pasta that’s typical for Umbria. They’re similar to taglioni, but the main difference is that Stringozzi pasta is not made with eggs.
The dish is also known as Umbricelli alla Spoleto in Perugia, and in addition to the fresh pasta, the other staple ingredient is spicy tomato sauce. It’s made with fresh tomatoes, garlic, chili peppers, and extra virgin olive oil, with parsley and basil as the herbs of choice. If you like pasta and spicy food, this should be your go-to dish while you’re traveling through Umbria.
Pampepato di Terni
Pampepato di Terni is a typical Umbrian dessert. It’s particularly popular in Terni, especially during the Christmas holidays. The dish is basically a round-shaped black that’s made with dried fruit, dark chocolate, nuts, honey, coffee, cooked grapes, and spices.
It’s interesting that even the original recipe doesn’t state the exact doses of individual ingredients; instead, it’s supposed to be mixed until it tastes just right.
That has a lot to do with the origin of the dish – Pampepato di Terni is linked with the peasant tradition in Umbria and it was traditionally prepared with the foods that the locals were able to set aside during that year. That’s why each family guards their own recipe and every time you try Pampepato di Terni it tastes a little bit different.
Salsiccia Secca
Salsiccia Secca are cured sausages that are extremely popular in Umbria and Norcia more specifically. In fact, cured sausages are so popular in Norcia that any dish made with them is called alla Norcia/Norcina throughout the entire country.
Although they’re specific to the town of Norcia, you can find them in other places in the Umbria region. It’s even possible to order them online, and you can choose between several different varieties of sausages. Spicy, flavored with wild fennel, and sweet are just some of the options.
Cured sausages are similar to pepperoni, but they’re in a league of their own. The cured meat can be eaten on its own as a snack, it can be added to sandwiches, as a pizza topping, and it’s even added to some pasta dishes. The possibilities are endless really, so be sure to try it as soon as you arrive in Umbria since it’s probable you’ll want to have it more than once.
Torcolo di san Costanzo
Torcolo di san Costanzo is a type of Umbrian dessert that’s prepared for a specific religious holiday. It’s usually made on January 29th in Perugia, in honor of the Patron Saint. The dish has a long-standing tradition in Umbria and it’s considered a dish of cucina povera (cuisine of the poor) because it’s made with inexpensive ingredients that most people have at home.
Torcolo translates to a donut, which adequately describes the shape of this interesting dessert. The dessert is made with bread dough and it’s flavored with pine nuts, raisins, and candied citrons. It’s not overly sweet, so those of you who don’t enjoy eating buckets of chocolate might just like this Umbrian dessert the best.
Perugia Food
Perugia is the capital of Umbria and the largest city in the region so it’s a great place to explore the local cuisine. The wide selection of restaurants means you’ll easily find all the Umbrian dishes listed here, even all those that are specific to Norcia!
Black truffles, olive oil, salsiccia secca, and torta al testo are all Peguia food staples. However, by far the most popular food that originates in this Italian city is Baci chocolates.
The fine dark chocolates are filled with chocolate and hazelnut cream in the center, and they have a whole hazelnut at the top. They’re absolutely delicious and one of the first things you should try to get your hands on when you’re visiting Perugia.
Baci is so popular in Perugia that most chocolate shops will have at least a section dedicated to the delicacy, and more often than not, there will be an entire wall covered with different Baci chocolates.
About the Author Anna Timbrook
Anna is the co-owner of expert world travel and can't wait to share her travel experience with the world. With over 54 countries under her belt she has a lot to write about! Including those insane encounters with black bears in Canada.
