Campania Food Guide: Traditional Dishes and Regional Cuisine

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Campania is home to Naples’ pizza, buffalo mozzarella, Gragnano pasta, and the lemons of the Amalfi Coast. There’s plenty to eat beyond the classics, too—from Cetara’s anchovy sauce to Sorrento’s baked gnocchi and Naples’ Easter pastiera.

Campania’s food reflects the variety of its towns and landscapes. Naples has its own take on pasta, fried food, and pizza; along the coast, seafood and lemons appear throughout the cooking; and inland, you’ll find hearty soups, pork dishes, and local cheeses. The best way to explore is to order what’s local, and leave room for dessert.

Neapolitan Pizza

Naples is one of pizza’s great homes. Classic Neapolitan styles include marinara, topped with tomato, garlic, oregano, and olive oil, and Margherita, made with tomato, cheese, basil, and olive oil. Pizza Napoletana has a protected traditional specialty specification, while UNESCO recognizes the art of the Neapolitan pizzaiuolo—the craft and practice of making pizza.

Other styles are worth seeking out. Pizza a portafoglio is folded to eat on the go, while pizza fritta is fried and often filled with ingredients such as ricotta. Parigina has pizza dough beneath tomato, cheese, and cooked ham, with a crisp layer of puff pastry on top. Pizza di scarola is more like a savory pie, filled with stewed escarole, often with olives, capers, or anchovies.

The familiar story that Raffaele Esposito created the Margherita for Queen Margherita in 1889 is a popular tradition, but it shouldn’t be presented as settled history.

Wine pairing: Falanghina — Its freshness and lively acidity make it a good match for the tomato, cheese, and herbs of a Margherita.

Cheeses in Campania

Campania is best known for mozzarella di bufala, but buffalo milk also goes into ricotta, and cow’s milk cheeses such as provola have their place at the table. These are worth trying on their own, with bread, or as part of a meal.

Mozzarella di Bufala Campana

Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO is made from the milk of Mediterranean Italian water buffalo. Its protected production area covers specified municipalities in Campania as well as areas in Lazio, Puglia and Molise. The cheese is fresh, soft and rich, with a delicate sweetness. Eat it soon after it’s made, when its milky flavor and supple texture are at their best.

You’ll find it in a Caprese salad, served with tomatoes, basil and olive oil, or simply on its own. It’s also used in pizza, though Neapolitan pizza can be made with cow’s-milk fiordilatte as well.

Ricotta di Bufala Campana

Ricotta di Bufala Campana PDO is made from the sweet whey left over from buffalo mozzarella production. Soft and creamy, it has a gentle sweetness that works in savory dishes and desserts. You may find it in pasta fillings, on pizza, or in pastries.

Provola

Provola is a stretched-curd cheese, usually made from cow’s milk. It can be mild and delicate, or more pronounced when smoked. Provola affumicata is worth looking for if you enjoy a little smokiness in a cheese board or in a cooked dish.

Antipasti

A Neapolitan meal might begin with something fried, a little seafood, or a Caprese salad. These are familiar dishes, but they’re best when the ingredients are good, and the cooking is simple.

Caprese Salad

The Caprese salad is an antipasto from Campania that is now enjoyed worldwide. It’s made with tomatoes, mozzarella di bufala, basil, extra virgin olive oil, and salt. This flavor-packed yet straightforward salad is hard to beat when the tomatoes are ripe and flavorful.

Mozzarella in Carrozza

Another delicious fried food in Campania, mozzarella in carrozza is an indulgent antipasto everyone should try once. There are many regional variations. In the Neapolitan version, mozzarella is sandwiched between two slices of bread and fried until golden brown.

Polipetti Affogati

When craving seafood in Naples, look to polipetti affogati, or “drowned” baby octopus. The small octopus cooks slowly in tomato sauce until tender. It’s often served with bread for mopping up the sauce.

First Courses — Primi Piatti

Pasta is a big part of Campanian cooking, from the coastal combination of clams and spaghetti to the richer dishes of Naples and Sorrento. Gragnano, just southeast of Naples, is especially known for its dried pasta, which has PGI status. In the dishes below, the local identity comes through in the sauce and the ingredients that go with the pasta.

Spaghetti con le Vongole

Spaghetti con le vongole, or spaghetti with clams, is a traditional Neapolitan dish enjoyed along the Amalfi Coast and on the islands of Capri and Ischia. It is usually made with clams, garlic, parsley, olive oil, and white wine; some versions include tomato. The sauce is light but full of flavor.

Wine pairing: Falanghina — A fresh, dry Falanghina complements the briny clams and cuts through the olive oil without overwhelming the dish.

Spaghetti con la Colatura di Alici

Colatura di alici is a deeply savory anchovy extract made in Cetara by curing anchovies with salt. The liquid that develops during the curing process is collected and bottled. The Cetara product now has DOP protection. A little goes a long way: it gives pasta an intense anchovy flavor without a complicated sauce.

The simplest versions of spaghetti con la colatura use garlic, parsley, olive oil, and sometimes chili. It’s a good dish to order if you’re curious about Cetara’s anchovy tradition, though its salty, concentrated flavor may not be for everyone.

Wine pairing: Fiano di Avellino — Its freshness and fuller texture can stand up to the anchovy’s concentrated, salty flavor.

Gnocchi alla Sorrentina

Gnocchi alla Sorrentina is one of Sorrento’s best-known dishes. Potato gnocchi are served with tomato and mozzarella, usually with basil, then baked until the cheese melts. It’s often served in a small earthenware dish, which keeps the gnocchi hot and gives the top a pleasingly browned finish.

This is comfort food, and the combination of soft gnocchi, tomato, and melted cheese is hard to resist. It’s substantial, so it can be a meal in itself.

Wine pairing: Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Rosso — A lighter red served slightly cool can work with the tomato and browned cheese.

Minestra Maritata

Minestra maritata is a typical Campanian soup, especially associated with Naples, and is often served at Christmas and throughout winter. The name means “married soup,” referring to the ideal marriage of ingredients. Many variations exist, but greens and meat simmer together to make a rich broth. Minestra maritata can be topped with grated cheese to serve.

Pasta, Fagioli e Cozze

Pasta, fagioli e cozze is a Neapolitan take on the peasant dish pasta e fagioli, which is enjoyed in several Italian regions. It’s a simple, filling dish of beans, pasta, and mussels. The beans give it a thick, creamy consistency, and it’s loaded with flavor.

Main Courses — Secondi Piatti

The second course might be seafood, meat, or a combination of both. Along the coast, squid and fish are common; in Naples, slow-cooked meat dishes remain part of the city’s cooking.

Totani e Patate

Totani e patate is an example of mare meets terra, or sea meets land. Squid and potatoes come together for a tasty dish from the Amalfi Coast, particularly around Positano and Praiano. Olive oil and garlic add flavor, and some versions include tomato or wine.

Pesce all’Acqua Pazza

Acqua pazza, or “crazy water,” is a way of cooking fish with water, olive oil, garlic, and tomatoes. Sea bass and sea bream are common choices along the Campanian coast. The cooking liquid becomes a light broth, and the fish remains the focus. It’s a good order when you want to taste the local catch without a heavy sauce. Bread on the side is great for dipping into the broth.

Wine pairing: Greco di Tufo — Its crisp acidity and mineral edge pair naturally with simply cooked white fish.

Fritto Misto di Mare

Fritto misto di mare is a mix of fried seafood. The exact selection varies, but it may include squid, anchovies, shrimp, or small fish. A light coating and a quick fry keep the seafood crisp; lemon is often served alongside.

It’s a popular choice in coastal towns and makes an easy dish to share. The contents depend on the catch, so ask what’s included before ordering if you have preferences.

Ragù Napoletano

Ragù Napoletano is a slow-cooked meat-and-tomato sauce. It’s commonly served in two parts: the sauce with pasta as a first course, then the meat as a second. Families and restaurants have their own versions, often using larger cuts of beef or pork that cook gently in the sauce for several hours.

In Naples, Sunday lunch is closely associated with ragù. It takes time, and the result is a rich sauce with meat tender enough to serve on its own. If you order it, ask whether the kitchen serves the meat as a second course.

Wine pairing: Taurasi — A structured Aglianico-based red can match the ragù’s long-cooked meat and concentrated tomato sauce.

Desserts in Campania

Naples has no shortage of sweets, from crisp pastries to rum-soaked cakes. Some are closely tied to particular holidays, while others are easy to find year-round in a pasticceria. Leave room for at least one.

Pastiera Napoletana

Pastiera Napoletana is a cake with a short pastry crust typically served around Easter. The filling for the short pastry crust is made with eggs, grano cotto (pre-cooked wheat grains), sugar, ricotta, lemon zest, candied orange peel, and orange blossom water. Pastiera’s flavors are genuinely reminiscent of spring in Naples, and it’s usually served cold. Though it originated in Naples, pastiera is now widely enjoyed throughout Italy for Easter.

Sfogliatelle

These irresistible pastries come in two versions: sfogliatelle ricce, with crisp, curled layers, and sfogliatelle frolle, made with a sweet shortcrust pastry. Both have a ricotta-and-semolina filling and are dusted with powdered sugar. They’re best eaten fresh from the bakery.

Babà al Rum

Babà al rum is a small, airy sponge cake soaked in rum syrup. It’s one of Naples’ best-known sweets, often sold plain or filled with cream. The texture should be tender and thoroughly soaked, but not falling apart. It’s rich, so one is usually plenty.