The food and wine tradition of Campania relies on many typical products both primary and artisanal. These, together with the cultural and scenic richness of our land, make Campania a valuable tourist destination both internationally and with respect to local tourism.

Among the excellences of the land and the great Neapolitan classics, another tasty and very special product is included in the most recent tradition: the Panuozzo of Gragnano. It looks like a flattened, large sandwich, but looking at it more closely and being captivated by its fragrant flavor, one senses the perfect fusion between pizza, from which it derives its origin, and homemade bread.

Every restaurant in the area, offers a wide choice of possible fillings all strictly made of typical products from the area of theAgro Nocerino with its fragrant cured meats and countless stringy cheeses, as well as cherry tomatoes and other vegetables grown nearby.

The recent origins of Panuozzo

The fabulous Panuozzo di Gragnano, which has now become an undisputed symbol of the street food of Sorrento Peninsula, was invented in 1983 by the family Mascolo. The story goes, in fact, that one evening in his historic Gragnano pizzeria, the progenitor Giuseppe, prepared it for his children for dinner by devising, with pizza dough, a narrow, elongated sandwich stuffed with bacon and mozzarella cheese.

The children, were so enthusiastic about the fragrant goodness of this maxi sandwich that one of them, Pasqualina Mascolo, chose the name and the product was immediately added to the menu.

Customers, intrigued by this thirty-inch super sandwich that presented itself as a tasty alternative to classic pizza, soon tasted it.

Undisputed success followed. Gragnano, which had always been famous for its famous pasta and wine of the same name, got another strong economic boost. In fact, the few pizzerias in the area made the panuozzo their fortunes to such an extent that within a couple of decades at least forty new restaurants were opened.

Panuozzo's delicious variations and "great classics" of taste

Although it is the Mascolo family that holds the patent for this irresistible Campanian excellence, panuozzo is offered in every pizzeria and restaurant in the area, still attracting many tourists internationally and nationally but also the Campanian inhabitants themselves. Every year since 1996 it has held the festival of Panuozzo, a veritable feast of taste that testifies to the countless evolutions of its variants.

Nevertheless, there are four panuozzi pioneers of taste. The first remains the one with mozzarella and bacon, as it was conceived by its inventor. Then there is the classic one that takes up all the Campanian flavor, stuffed with sausage and friarielli. For more line-conscious consumers or those looking for fresher flavors, it is possible to enjoy the one with mozzarella, tomatoes and arugula. 

A classic probably thought of by more "unconventional" foodies is one stuffed with provolone cheese and eggplant (white or mushroom-shaped). 

Finally, in addition to the variations offered by restaurants and the great classics, there is also another version that is always new and unexpected, the one that is ordered at the counter composed as desired.  

The inimitable taste of panuozzo

Panuozzo also owes the great fortune and fame gained so quickly to its uniqueness. Like the pizza from which it is derived, given the use of the same dough, it is difficult to reproduce exactly the flavor and texture of that made in a pizzeria. It must be cooked strictly in a wood-fired oven to allow the dough to swell and crack in order to disperse the steam accumulated inside.

The secret of its crispy exterior, despite the fact that the inner crumb is soft and elastic, comes from the second baking: the so-called "ripasso" of a few minutes that the pizza maker performs immediately after cutting and stuffing it. This stage also serves to better amalgamate the flavors of the ingredients used. The filling must categorically be made with genuine products from the Agro Nocerino Sarnese area.

Another proposed variant, although less common, is that prepared with the dough of the typical peasant bread Campanian.

In short, panuozzo can be eaten as take-out food or comfortably seated in one of the many pizzerias in Gragnano. However, it remains a local delicacy that must be savored on the spot or at most in a few other pizzerias in Campania that have managed to assimilate its secrets by offering it in a version very similar to the original.