The gnocchi made with a dairy ingredient you will struggle to find elsewhere

THE STORY ↓
WHERE TO EAT GNOCCHI CON LA FIORETA↓

What Exactly is Fioreta? Soft, spoonable, and fresh tasting, fioreta is a traditional dairy specialty of the Vicenza area in Veneto, particularly associated with Recoaro Terme and the Piccole Dolomiti. It is a creamy, semi liquid type of ricotta obtained from the whey left after cheesemaking. As the whey is heated, its proteins coagulate and rise to the surface. The first ricotta produced is collected without being fully drained, leaving the fioreta characteristically fluid. Its name refers to the first “flowers” that form on the surface as the whey is heated. For anyone looking for traditional food in Vicenza, fioreta belongs to a very specific mountain culture. Its short life dictates both the technique of the kitchen and the geography of the dish. It is made to be consumed fresh and remains closely associated with mountain dairies and small cheesemakers in the Vicentine valleys. That limited availability helps explain why Gnochi con la Fioreta, one of the best known traditional dishes of Recoaro Terme, are rarely encountered far beyond this part of the province of Vicenza.

Born in the Malghe The dish comes directly from seasonal transhumance and work on the high pastures of the Piccole Dolomiti. During the months spent with dairy cattle in the mountains above Recoaro, malgari, the herders and cheesemakers working in alpine dairies known locally as malghe, prepared the dish from fioreta, flour and salt. To make the gnocchi, fioreta is mixed with flour and salt into a loose batter. Spoonfuls of this mixture are dropped directly into boiling water, producing an irregular shape and a remarkably tender consistency. Once drained, they are dressed with alpine butter and finished with grated aged malga cheese or smoked ricotta. The recipe made immediate use of a fresh product of the cheesemaking process in the same mountain landscape where it was produced. This is also what separates the dish from the potato gnocchi more commonly associated with northern Italy.  

Spooned Straight into the Water This preparation bypasses the rolling board, the ridges, and the precise geometry of potato gnocchi. The dough remains a soft paste, portioned simply with a spoon and dropped straight into the pot. That gesture remains codified in the local production rules for Gnochi con la Fioreta. Fioreta, white flour, and salt form the base, while butter and aged cheese or smoked ricotta complete the dish. The irregular shape comes directly from portioning the soft mixture with a spoon. The result is one of the most geographically specific dishes in the Vicenza mountains, closely linked to Recoaro Terme, its dairying culture, and the high pastures of the Piccole Dolomiti.

Butter, Sugar, and Cinnamon An older, alternative iteration of the dish follows a different flavour profile. Local De.Co. sources also record Gnochi con la Fioreta served with butter, sugar, and cinnamon. The same local sources describe this combination as evoking ancient contacts between the Vicentine mountains and the Republic of Venice, bringing the taste of an imported spice into a dish born from pastoral cooking. The detail also places Recoaro within a larger history of Vicenza food culture, where mountain agriculture and the commercial world of the Venetian mainland repeatedly met at the table.

From Herders' Food to a Local Denomination The formal path toward protecting the dish began in Recoaro Terme at the end of 2006. Local restaurateurs subsequently signed a production specification adopted by the municipality in 2007, following the model of the Denominazioni Comunali promoted nationally by Italian food writer Luigi Veronelli. In 2008, Gnochi con la Fioreta completed the De.Co. process, becoming the first product recognised under Recoaro Terme’s municipal denomination programme. The first official plaques were awarded to seven participating restaurateurs. The specification establishes requirements for the ingredients and preparation of the dish. Its culture is also maintained by the Venerabile Confraternita dei Gnochi con la Fioreta, founded in Recoaro in 2006 to preserve and promote the local recipe. Today, Gnochi con la Fioreta remain one of the clearest expressions of mountain food in the province of Vicenza: a recipe whose defining ingredient, preparation, and history all lead back to Recoaro Terme and the dairy landscape of the Piccole Dolomiti.

WHERE TO EAT GNOCCHI CON LA FIORETA

The official De.Co. register identifies a substantial group of Recoaro kitchens associated with the dish.

FOR A CENTRAL RECOARO LUNCH

Ristorante Locanda Seggiovia

Piazza Amedeo Savoia Duca d’Aosta 7, 36076 Recoaro Terme, Vicenza
Phone +39 0445 76162
Mobile +39 339 7444499

The family run locanda specialises in Gnochi con la Fioreta, made with fioreta from the malghe of Campogrosso and Recoaro Mille. It also serves bacalà alla vicentina, game, and seasonal local cooking using ingredients from the Recoaro area.

Albergo Ristorante Al Castello

Via G. Zanella 13, Recoaro Terme, Vicenza
Phone +39 0445 780300

One of the first seven restaurants recognised for the De.Co. recipe in 2008. Its version uses fioreta from Recoaro’s malghe, finished with butter from the same mountain dairies.

Hotel Trettenero

Via Vittorio Emanuele 16, Recoaro Terme, Vicenza
Phone +39 0445 780380

Listed by the official De.Co. register among Recoaro restaurants serving Gnochi con la Fioreta. The restaurant serves them with alpine butter and smoked ricotta. Its central location in Recoaro Terme makes it one of the more convenient options if you want to try the dish without building the meal around a mountain excursion.

Hotel Ristorante Isola

Via Campogrosso 33, Recoaro Terme, Vicenza
Phone +39 0445 780560

Family run and about 500 metres from the centre. Its current local food presentation specifically includes Gnocchi con la fioreta, together with game, mountain cheeses and cured meats.

FOR LUNCH HIGHER INTO THE PICCOLE DOLOMITI

Rifugio Campogrosso

Strada per Campogrosso 7620, Recoaro Terme, Vicenza
Phone +39 0445 1920679

Campogrosso puts the dish where its dairy history began, among the mountain routes and pastures of the Piccole Dolomiti. The official De.Co. register names the rifugio among the places serving Gnocchi con la fioreta.

Malga Lora

Strada della Gazza 3450, Recoaro Terme, Vicenza
Phone +39 0445 75970

Rifugio Alpino Piccole Dolomiti Alla Guardia

Strada per Campogrosso 3300, Recoaro Terme, Vicenza
Phone +39 0445 75257

Also known as Rifugio Alla Guardia, the name under which it appears in the official De.Co. register of places serving Gnochi con la Fioreta. On the road from Recoaro Terme towards Campogrosso, its cooking follows the local mountain repertoire, including fioreta gnocchi, malga cheese, porcini and game. game.