Trofie may not be the first shape of pasta that comes to mind outside of Italy, but for Ligurians, it is a culinary symbol of their very identity.Traditionally associated with theRiviera di Levante, particularly the area around Genoa and the Golfo del Paradiso, trofie are short, thin pasta curls, each one rolled by hand, deeply connected to the story of Liguria’s food culture, one shaped by simple ingredients, ingenuity, and the idea that nothing could go to waste. 

Their origins are difficult to trace with precision: some historians believe the name may derive from the Ligurian word strufuggiâ, meaning “to rub,” a reference to the pasta’s hand-rolling process, while others connect it to the Greek trophe, meaning “nourishment.”