# Pezzata Capracotta sheep boiled slowly with potatoes, celery and tomato. Capracotta, Molise. Main Courses (Secondi). > Large pieces of bone-in sheep started in cold salted water, skimmed with care, then cooked slowly with potato, celery, a little tomato and chilli until the water has almost gone; the dish of Capracotta's festival since 1961. - Level of proof: Consortium or town standard (Consorzio o comune). A reference recipe set by a protection consortium or by the town the dish is named after. - Sources checked: 2026-11-02 - Published: 2026-11-02 - Page: https://nonnario.com/recipes/pezzata/ ## In short - Sheep meat on the bone, in fairly large pieces trimmed of fat, put into cold salted water that stands well above it. - Skimmed thoroughly as it comes to the boil: the foam takes the fat and the strong smell of the sheep with it. - Only then the potato, celery, tomato and a little chilli; the tomato colours the broth without making it too red. - Cooked covered over a low heat, stirred now and then, for at least four hours, until the water has almost gone. - The potato and the reduced water make a loose, creamy sauce around the meat; served very hot. Also called: La Pezzata, Pezzata di Capracotta, pezzata di pecora, pecora pezzata. ## Where it comes from Pezzata is sheep boiled for hours in a great cauldron, the dish of Capracotta, a town at over 1,400 metres in the Alto Molise. It goes back to the transhumance, when shepherds drove their flocks for months between these mountains and the plains of Puglia. Now and then an animal went lame fording a river or crossing rough ground and could go no further: it became the shepherds' supper, cut into pieces and cooked with the little a travelling caravan had, in a pot on a tripod of logs over a wood fire, with water, salt and wild herbs. Lame animals went into it, and ewes that were barren, or old and worn out by the journey. Potatoes and tomato came later and are now part of it. Where the name comes from is uncertain: from the animal cut into pieces, or from the cloth, the pezza, used to skim and strain the broth or to cover the pot. In 1961 the provincial tourist board turned the shepherds' homecoming feast into a Day of Hospitality, and the town council made a festival of the dish: the pezzata, at first offered free to everyone, became the dish of the day. The festival is still held on the first Sunday of August on the Prato Gentile plateau, above 1,500 metres, hosted by the Pro Loco, and visitors take home a wooden fork, a bowl and a terracotta cup; its 60th edition was on 2 August 2026. La Pezzata is on Italy's list of traditional food products for Molise. The reference is the town's own recipe, La Pezzata, ricetta tipica di Capracotta, written by the Comune di Capracotta, its Pro Loco and the Isernia delegation of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina. We read it as published in 2025 by a local association and on the province's tourist pages; the two agree word for word, down to the line that it cooks for at least four hours, as the Comune's own page also says. The town's own pages describe a shorter base, sheep, salt, a few potatoes and a few tomatoes, and treat celery and chilli as additions. The reference recipe is written for 30 to 40 people from one sheep of 15 to 20 kg, and calls a tinned copper cauldron on a tripod over a wood fire essential. This page keeps its proportions for eight: half a kilo of meat on the bone a head, one potato and a quarter of a celery stalk. The town's pages speak of sheep boiled with herbs, and the old shepherds' dish had wild ones, but the recipe lists none, so none are here. The recipe gives no amounts for the tomato, chilli, salt or water and no heat for the boil: those are ours, marked as our guide, and so is keeping the lid ajar, since a home pot holds in far more steam than a cauldron over a fire and the water must almost dry up. Also ours: a probe in the thickest piece checks that it has reached at least 71 °C. - Defined by: Comune di Capracotta, Pro Loco di Capracotta and Accademia Italiana della Cucina, Delegazione di Isernia - Reference: "La Pezzata, ricetta tipica di Capracotta", for 30 to 40 people, read as published by the Amici di Capracotta association (2025) and on the Provincia di Isernia's tourist site; quantities scaled to its own proportions for 8 ## Sources - [Amici di Capracotta (a local association): the Pezzata, its history and the typical recipe of Capracotta, a text by the Accademia Italiana della Cucina's Isernia delegation, the Pro Loco and the Comune di Capracotta, 2025 (Italian)](https://www.amicidicapracotta.com/2025/08/01/capracotta-celebra-il-suo-piatto-simbolo-la-pezzata/) - [Provincia di Isernia, its tourist office's site Isernia Turismo: La Pezzata, typical recipe of Capracotta (Italian)](http://www.iserniaturismo.it/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=235) - [Comune di Capracotta: the town's traditions, La Pezzata (Italian)](https://capracotta.com/capracotta/capracotta-le-tradizioni/) - [Comune di Capracotta: the 60th edition of La Pezzata, 2 August 2026 (Italian)](https://capracotta.com/2-agosto-60-edizione-de-la-pezzata/) - [Ministero dell'agricoltura, della sovranità alimentare e delle foreste (MASAF), Italy's Ministry of Agriculture: national list of traditional food products, 25th revision, 2025 (Italian)](https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/22781) - [Regione Molise: conference on fifty years of the pezzata, Capracotta, 2012 (Italian; archived copy)](https://web.archive.org/web/20240424020510/https://www.regione.molise.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/5277) - [Regione Molise, its Expo 2015 site: the Sagra della Pezzata (Italian; archived copy)](https://web.archive.org/web/20160314101922/http://expo2015.regione.molise.it/?page_id=12244) - [Il Giornale del Cibo (food magazine published by CIRFOOD): the Pezzata di Capracotta, its origins and a recipe, 2020 (Italian)](https://www.ilgiornaledelcibo.it/pezzata-di-capracotta/) - [GuideSlow, tourist guide to Molise: the pezzata di pecora, its history and a recipe, 2022 (Italian)](https://molise.guideslow.it/la-pezzata-pecora/) - [Turismo.it: Capracotta and the pastoral flavours of the pezzata, 2019 (Italian)](https://www.turismo.it/idee-di-viaggio/enogastronomia-vino/capracotta-gli-antichi-sapori-pastorali-della-pezzata-id-19851/) - [USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service: Leftovers and Food Safety](https://web.archive.org/web/20250529160018/https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/leftovers-and-food-safety) ## Ingredients For 8 servings, in metric units. - 4 kg bone-in mutton, in large pieces (pecora, meat from an adult sheep, in a mix of cuts as from a whole animal: shoulder, leg, neck, breast and ribs, cut through the bone into pieces of about 200 g–300 g. The town's recipe uses one sheep of 15–20 kg for 30 to 40 people) - 1 potato (a large one, about 250 g; peeled, or well scrubbed and left in its skin) - ¼ celery stalk (a quarter of a stalk: the town's recipe uses one stalk for a whole sheep) - 1 ripe tomato (Our guide: one medium tomato, about 150 g. The town's recipe says only a few for a whole sheep; the Comune's page adds: enough to colour the broth without making it too red) - hot chilli (fresh or dried; a little. Our guide: one small chilli, kept whole) - salt (Our guide: about 20 g in the water to start, more to taste at the end) - cold water (enough to stand well above the meat; Our guide: at least 5 cm above it, about 4 l–5 l) ## Equipment - A wide, heavy pot of 12 l–15 l with a lid (in Capracotta, a tinned copper cauldron on a tripod over a wood fire) - A skimmer or a ladle, and a bowl of water to rinse it in - A sharp knife and a board - A long wooden spoon - Probe thermometer - Deep plates or bowls, and a plate for the bones ## Method Hands-on 1 h 15 min, cooking 3 h 30 min. About 4½–6 hours, nearly all of it on the stove: about 25 minutes to trim the meat and prepare the vegetables, 40–60 minutes to bring the pot slowly to the boil while you skim it, then 3½–4½ hours of slow cooking, checked and stirred every half hour, for at least four hours on the heat in all. Have the butcher cut the meat through the bone when you buy it. ### The meat 1. **Have the meat cut into large pieces** (Hands-on 5 min). Have the butcher cut the 4 kg of mutton through the bone into fairly large pieces. Check: The pieces are roughly the same size, each about as big as a fist, so they cook in the same time. Tip: Our guide: pieces of about 200 g–300 g, from several cuts, as a whole sheep would give: shoulder, leg, neck, breast and ribs. Some cooks use only shoulder and leg, for a leaner dish. Tip: The bone is cut with a saw or a cleaver; it is easier for the butcher than at home. 2. **Trim off the excess fat** (Hands-on 10–15 min). Cut away the thick layers of fat on the outside of the pieces and any loose lumps of fat. Check: No thick white fat is left on the outside; only thin streaks and the thin membrane over the meat. Tip: The town's recipe puts the sheep into the water already trimmed. Mutton fat has a strong smell; what is left melts out in the pot and is skimmed off. 3. **Prepare the vegetables** (Hands-on 5 min). Peel the potato, or scrub it and leave it in its skin, and cut it into large chunks. Wash the tomato and the celery; quarter the tomato. Rinse the chilli. Check: The vegetables are ready in a bowl beside the stove, so they go in as soon as the skimming is done. Tip: Our guide: the potato in 4–6 chunks, the celery in one piece, the chilli whole, so it is easy to lift out at the end. ### The boil and the skimming 4. **Put the meat into cold salted water** (Hands-on 5 min; follows the official text). Put the fairly large pieces of sheep, already trimmed of fat, into the pot of cold salted water, keeping the water well above the meat. Check: All the meat is under water, with a good depth of water above it. Tip: Our guide: enough cold water to stand at least 5 cm above the meat, about 4 l–5 l in a wide pot of 12 l–15 l, with about 20 g of salt. Tip: Salt lightly now: nearly all the water cooks away, and the salt stays behind. You will taste and add more at the end. Tip: In Capracotta the town's recipe calls a tinned copper cauldron on a tripod over a wood fire essential. At home, use the widest heavy pot you have: a wide pot also lets the water reduce. 5. **Bring it to the boil, skimming off all the foam** (Hands-on 40 min to 1 h; heat: medium; follows the official text). Bring it to the boil, taking off all the foam as it forms. This must be done carefully: with the fat, it carries away the smell and the strong taste of the animal. Check: The water is boiling, and what rises is no longer thick grey foam, only a little white froth and clear drops of fat. Tip: Our guide: over a medium heat it takes about 30–50 minutes to boil, and a slow rise brings up more foam to take off. Skim every few minutes, rinsing the skimmer in the bowl of water each time, and carry on for about 10 minutes more once it boils. Tip: Some cooks then pour the broth through a fine sieve or a cloth and put it back with the meat. ### The slow cooking 6. **Add the potato, celery, tomato and chilli** (Hands-on 3 min; follows the official text). When the skimming is done, add to the meat the potato in pieces, the celery, the tomato and a little chilli. Check: Everything is in the pot and the water is coming back to a simmer. Tip: The potato goes in to soak up the fat the meat keeps releasing, and the tomato only to colour the broth, not to make it too red. 7. **Cook slowly, covered, until the water has almost gone** (Cooking 3 h 30 min to 4 h 30 min; heat: low, a gentle simmer; follows the official text). Leave it to cook covered, over a low heat, stirring now and then, until the water has almost dried up. With the help of the potato it forms a loose but creamy sauce that gives the meat more flavour. It cooks in at least four hours. Check: The meat is very tender and comes away from the bone, and the water has dropped below the meat to a little cloudy, creamy sauce at the bottom of the pot. A probe in the thickest piece, away from the bone, reads at least 71 °C. Tip: An older animal takes longer. Our guide: count the four hours from when the pot goes on the heat. Tip: Our guide: a home lid holds in far more steam than a cauldron's over a fire, so leave yours ajar by a couple of centimetres. Look and stir every 30 minutes, scraping the bottom with the wooden spoon: as the potato breaks up, the liquid thickens and can stick. Tip: Our guide: with the lid ajar only a little of the water cooks away. Look after about 2 hours of slow cooking: if the liquid still covers the meat, take the lid off for the rest of the time and let it simmer a little more briskly. If the meat is tender before the water has almost gone, lift it out, boil the liquid down hard to a few centimetres and put the meat back. If it dries out before the meat is tender, add a ladle of hot water. ### To the table 8. **Taste for salt** (Hands-on 2 min). Lift out the chilli and the celery if they are still whole. Taste the sauce and add salt if it needs it. Check: The sauce tastes well seasoned, of meat and potato, mildly hot. 9. **Serve very hot** (Hands-on 5 min). Serve at once, very hot, in deep plates or bowls: pieces of meat with some potato and a spoonful of the sauce over them. Check: Each plate has meat, potato and some of the creamy sauce. Tip: Put out toasted bread to dip in the sauce, and a plate for the bones. Tip: Whatever is not eaten goes into the fridge within 2 hours of cooking, in shallow covered containers, and is eaten within 3 days of cooking. Bring it back to the boil, with a splash of water if it has thickened, until it reaches 75 °C at the centre. ## Good to know - When: At Capracotta it is the dish of the festival held every year on the first Sunday of August, on the Prato Gentile plateau. ([source](https://capracotta.com/capracotta/capracotta-le-tradizioni/)) - Variant: With carrot and onion: The base is sheep, salt, a few potatoes and a few tomatoes for colour; some cooks add celery, carrot, onion and a pinch of chilli. ([source](https://capracotta.com/capracotta/capracotta-le-tradizioni/)) - Variant: Blanched first, with herbs: The pieces are boiled for about 10 minutes in a very large pot, then lifted out into cold water in a covered pan and boiled over a medium heat, uncovering now and then to skim off foam and fat. Potatoes, tomatoes, fresh herbs, salt, and if liked chilli and chopped celery, carrot and onion go in, and it cooks until the water has almost gone, to be eaten with toasted bread dipped in the sauce. ([source](https://www.ilgiornaledelcibo.it/pezzata-di-capracotta/)) - Variant: Strained after skimming, with onion: Shoulder or leg in large pieces, in salted water that covers it, brought to the boil and skimmed again and again; the broth is then strained through a sieve, and potatoes, celery, onions, tomatoes and chilli go in. It cooks over a low heat for about four hours, stirred now and then, until the water has almost gone, and is served very hot in small terracotta dishes. ([source](https://molise.guideslow.it/la-pezzata-pecora/)) ## Common mistakes - Starting the meat in hot water: it goes into cold salted water and comes slowly to the boil. - Skimming carelessly: all the foam must come off, or the dish keeps the fat and the strong smell of the sheep. - Adding the vegetables before the skimming is done. - Too much tomato: it only colours the broth and must not make it too red. - Boiling it hard: once the vegetables are in it cooks slowly, over a low heat. - Stopping too soon or serving it wet: it cooks for at least four hours in all, until the water has almost gone and only a creamy sauce is left. - Salting heavily at the start: the water cooks away and the salt stays behind. ## Cooking it outside Italy - Pecora is meat from an adult sheep, sold in English as mutton. Ask a butcher for bone-in mutton cut through the bone into large pieces; halal and Greek butchers often have it. Our guide: hogget, from a sheep of about one to two years, is the nearest substitute. - Lamb has been used for the dish too; it is milder and needs much less time, so start checking it after about 2 hours of slow cooking (our guide). - Any wide, heavy stockpot does the work of the copper cauldron: stainless steel or enamelled cast iron, of 12 l–15 l. --- From Nonnario, the documented recipes of Italy: https://nonnario.com/recipes/pezzata/. Cite the recipe's page and the month its sources were checked; for the official text itself, cite the document listed under its sources. Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).