The small green legumes traditionally eaten for wealth on New Year's Eve in Italy are lentils.
Italian families commonly serve lentils around New Year's, often with cotechino or zampone, two pork specialties associated with the holiday meal. Lentils are linked symbolically with coins because of their small, round, flat appearance. Eating them is therefore associated with hopes for prosperity in the coming year.
The meal is especially connected with the night of San Silvestro, the Italian name for New Year's Eve, and with New Year's Day. Recipes vary by region and household, so the dish may be a stew, a side dish, or part of a larger celebratory meal.
The lentil custom is a food superstition rather than a claim that the legumes literally produce wealth. It is also distinct from the Spanish custom of eating 12 grapes and from the southern United States tradition of eating black-eyed peas for prosperity.