09/24/2025
On a winter visit to a farm near Mount Vesuvius 34 years ago, ‘s co-owner Craig Stoll was intrigued by large clusters of tomatoes hung from the farmhouse rafters. “Pienollo is a paste tomato with status,” writes Christina Mueller in the fall issue of Edible Marin & Wine Country magazine.
In farms near the slopes of Vesuvius, Pienollo tomatoes are preserved in ristras (as Californians using Mexican Spanish might say) or in pienollo (as Campanians might say). Pienollo, now a verb, is an ancient practice of preservation by suspending the tomatoes for months and naturally ventilated rooms. Pienollo concentrates the tomatoes’ flavor and —as importantly—facilitates the availability of fresh tomatoes in mid-winter, long past the end of the growing season.
When Craig and his wife Annie started Fryer Creek Farm in Sonoma in 2018, Pienollo tomatoes were among the first crops to be cultivated. and make ample use of the Pienollo’s rich flavor while they’re available at the farm, in addition to the 4 -5 other tomato varieties, eggplant, Summer, squash, cucumbers, peppers, herbs, plus beans, peas, fruits, and other seasonal produce grown on the grounds.
Read the story in the fall issue of Edible Marin & Wine Country magazine with a recipe for Pienollo and Summer squash Gratinata that you’ll be cooking well through the winter months.
