Lentils are the Italian New Year's Eve food associated with wealth and prosperity because their round shape resembles coins.
In Italy, lentils are commonly served around New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, often alongside cotechino or zampone, traditional pork products. As the lentils swell during cooking, they can also suggest increasing abundance in the year ahead.
The custom connects food with wishes for financial security and good fortune. Pork is similarly associated with prosperity in many Italian traditions because a pig represents plentiful food and, historically, a valuable household resource.
Recipes and serving times vary across Italy, so there is no single national dish prepared identically everywhere. The key symbolic ingredient is the lentil itself. It is sometimes confused with rice or peas, which also have prosperity associations in different cultures, but Italian New Year's symbolism specifically emphasizes lentils as coin-like legumes.