When pizza becomes a cure: the collaboration with Castellini Foundation
Pizza is tradition, style, conviviality, and the gesture that accompanies the kneading of the dough is undoubtedly a mixture of art and technique. But it can also be a gesture with therapeutic value. Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli touched on this during an important collaboration with Fondazione Castellini in Melegnano.
In fact, Castellini Foundation runs Casa di Ananias, a therapeutic psychiatric community based in Melegnano, near Milan. The collaborative project took place in 2025 and consisted of 10 meetings with groups of 5-6 patients each. The goal? To bring pizza making within a rehabilitation pathway for the facility’s patients. Participation was high, and the satisfaction expressed by those who participated confirmed the merit of the initiative from the start.
The rehabilitative value of making pizza was the real heart of the project. As stressed by the Castellini Foundation clinical team, the benefits of this type of activity are indeed concrete and manifold. Making a pizza in fact requires following a precise sequence of actions-weighing, kneading, rolling out, stuffing, baking-that trains procedural memory and concentration skills. Dough manipulation stimulates motor coordination and fine motor skills. In addition, working in groups toward a common goal strengthens social dynamics and collaborative skills.
Then there is one aspect that should not be underestimated: at the end of the process, there is a tangible result. A real pizza, made with one’s own hands. This moment has a direct effect onself-esteem and a sense of competence, counteracting those feelings of worthlessness that often accompany the pathways of psychic difficulty. Finally, the moment of the shared meal proved each time to be a valuable space for socialization and dialogue, helping to reduce isolation. And, as the patients involved pointed out each time: the pizza was delicious!
Supporting this project represented a concrete application of something Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli believes in: pizza is an act that connects people, requires care and attention, and can have value far beyond the table. The Scuola team is therefore proud to have made its know-how available to such a significant project, and hopes to continue this collaboration.
