Parmigiana of Montoro copper onion

History and origin

The parmigiana of copper onion comes from Montoro, in the province of Avellino, and is listed among the traditional food products of Campania. Its story is that of the onion it is named after: the regional record notes that almost every family in the town grew it, and that this parmigiana was one of the typical Sunday dishes.

The cipolla ramata owes its name to the copper colour of its outer skin and is tied to the lands of Montoro Inferiore and Montoro Superiore, the two municipalities created in 1829 by splitting the old Montoro and merged again into a single municipality in December 2013. The Slow Food Foundation, which lists it in the Ark of Taste, recalls that during the world wars this bulb helped hungry generations survive, when people ate bread, if there was any, with onion.

From that everyday, humble produce came a feast-day recipe that turns the onion into the star of an oven dish, in the way a parmigiana is built.

Sources: Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Prodotto tradizionale: parmigiana di cipolla ramata di Montoro · Regione Campania — Cipolla ramata di Montoro (prodotto tradizionale) · Fondazione Slow Food, Arca del Gusto — Cipolla ramata di Montoro · Sistema Irpinia (Provincia di Avellino) — Montoro · Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026)

Area and method of production

The regional record gives the area as Montoro, formerly Montoro Inferiore, and the surrounding lands, in the Irno valley between the provinces of Avellino and Salerno. The ingredients are few and precise: Montoro copper onion, peeled tomatoes, cow's milk scamorza, extra virgin olive oil, grated cheese and salt.

The onions are peeled by hand, washed and sliced into rings with a knife; they are then dipped in batter, browned and fried in a pan in extra virgin olive oil. Once the frying is done the parmigiana is assembled, with all the ingredients in layers, and the dish goes into the oven to bake.

The raw material follows a farming calendar that has not changed: sowing in seedbeds in autumn, transplanting into the fields in January and February, and harvesting from the second half of June. After harvest the onions dry in the field and then rest in well-ventilated wooden structures; kept cool in airy rooms they last until the following March.

Sources: Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Prodotto tradizionale: parmigiana di cipolla ramata di Montoro · Regione Campania — Cipolla ramata di Montoro (prodotto tradizionale) · Fondazione Slow Food, Arca del Gusto — Cipolla ramata di Montoro

How to recognise it

Once baked, the copper-onion parmigiana has a rounded shape that recalls the onion itself. On top and in cross-section the red of the peeled tomatoes alternates with the white of the scamorza and the cheese. Aroma and flavour are intense yet delicate, and the texture is soft and creamy.

Much of its character comes from the onion. The Montoro cipolla ramata is globe-shaped and slightly flattened, with a copper-coloured outer skin and inner layers tinged with violet. It tastes sweet and smells strongly aromatic, and the regional record stresses that it holds up well in cooking and keeps for a long time thanks to its high dry-matter content. The same qualities make it suitable both raw and in dishes that need long cooking.

Sources: Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Prodotto tradizionale: parmigiana di cipolla ramata di Montoro · Regione Campania — Cipolla ramata di Montoro (prodotto tradizionale) · Fondazione Slow Food, Arca del Gusto — Cipolla ramata di Montoro

In the kitchen

The copper-onion parmigiana is a one-dish meal from the oven, created for Sunday lunch. It comes to the table in its baking dish, layered with fried onion, tomato and cheeses, and is served hot.

The same onion has many other uses in local cooking. The Slow Food Foundation describes it as suitable for every preparation: raw in countless salads, cooked in soups, sauces and side dishes, or baked with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of pepper to bring out its aroma. It is widely used in pasta sauces, especially the ragù alla genovese of Campanian cooking, which needs long cooking and an onion able to withstand it.

At the festival devoted to the copper onion, the Pro Loco served dishes of local produce prepared in the traditional way and hosted the launch of a book on the genovese, together with a talk on the future of the copper onion.

Sources: Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Prodotto tradizionale: parmigiana di cipolla ramata di Montoro · Fondazione Slow Food, Arca del Gusto — Cipolla ramata di Montoro · Sistema Irpinia — L'Oro di Montoro, Festa della Cipolla Ramata

Where to taste it

The home of the parmigiana is Montoro, a town of fifteen hamlets in the Irno valley, about fourteen kilometres from Avellino. Inhabited since prehistory, it keeps the ruins of a Lombard castle in the hamlet of Borgo, Palazzo Macchiarelli, the Sanctuary of Maria Santissima Incoronata and, at San Bartolomeo, the Museum of Rural and Craft Activities, which tells the story of the farming world the copper onion comes from.

The town's food calendar is full. The Pro Loco has dedicated the festival "L'Oro di Montoro" to the copper onion, with tastings, food stalls and music in the hamlet of Piano in September. July brings the porcini mushroom festival at Torchiati and the Banzano potato festival. Among local produce Sistema Irpinia also lists the Montoro artichoke, the San Marzano tomato and the Mortarella hazelnut.

Montoro is easy to reach from Avellino and makes a good stop for travellers exploring Irpinia and the nearby Monti Picentini.

Sources: Sistema Irpinia (Provincia di Avellino) — Montoro · Sistema Irpinia — L'Oro di Montoro, Festa della Cipolla Ramata

Protection

• Traditional agri-food product (PAT) — Campania, n. 558, 26th revision (Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026))

When

• The sources consulted give no months.

Where

Campania

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