Traditional Christmas Desserts of Casalbordino (Abruzzo)

At Christmastime, every home in Abruzzo makes traditional desserts.  Although the names are similar, the ingredients vary from town to town.

These are part of the culinary tradition of Casalbordino , my birth place.

Scrippelle

Tarallucci (indigenous to Casalbordino)

Caggionetti di ceci (chick peas)

Caggionetti di Ceci

Ingredients for the pastry dough:

4 cups of unbleached flour
½ cup olive oil
½ cup of white wine

Ingredients for the filling:

1 lb. chickpea puree (chick peas cooked fresh)
1 cup of peeled, toasted almonds finely chopped
1 orange peel finely chopped
¼ cup sugar or honey
¼ cup rum or anisette
4 tbs. cocoa powder, unsweetened or 2 square of chocolate (melted)
1 tablespoon cinnamon

4 cups of olive oil for frying

Preparation:


Combine the almonds, the cinnamon and the chocolate and mix well. Then add the chick pea puree, the sugar, the liqueur and orange peel. Allow to rest for several hours, while preparing the flour dough with olive oil and wine. Stretch the dough. Put the filling on the dough as they do for the ravioli. Fry the "ravioli" in olive oil without browning them. Finally sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Torroni "Croccanti" di Mandorle

Christmas is an excellent opportunity to prepare traditional Italian desserts and serve old recipes but, despite the passing years, still remains a favorite by everyone, young and old. Here is one of my favorite Christmas treats.

Torroni di Mandorle

Ingredients


Blanched Almonds

1 lb. toasted almonds

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup honey
Zest of one orange

Blanching Almonds

Pour boiling water to barely cover almonds.

Let the almonds sit for 1 minute and no longer.

Drain and slip the skins off.

Toasting Almonds

Place almonds in a heavy, ungreased skillet.
Stir often over medium heat until golden brown.
Oven method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Toasted Almonds

Spread nuts in one layer on ungreased shallow baking pan.
Bake for 20 to 30, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.

Preparation
Melt sugar and honey in a pot over medium heat, add the almonds and turn constantly with a wooden spoon (about 30 minutes) until a firm consistency. Add orange zest in final minute. Put the mixture on a wet, work surface and spread with a cutting board until you reach a thickness of 1 inch. Cut into rectangles of 2 inches. 

These torroni or croccanti may be kept in a closed container for a long time.

Fresh-Made Manicotti or Cannelloni Ripieni

Important days of the year always require great attention to detail and food to make them unique and unrepeatable. For this reason, on special occasions, I like to make special dishes.  One of my favorites is Manicotti or Cannelloni Ripieni.

Manicotti - Cannelloni Ripieni

Crepe Shells or Crespelle - Yields around 40 crepes

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoons salt
Butter to grease non-stick skillet

Put all ingredients together in a blender (blend or stir speed) until you have a smooth batter.  Pour batter into a bowl. 
Place a small 6 inch dry non-stick skillet over moderate heat.  Using a stick of butter, grease the pan lightly. (I like to grease the pan every two crepes).
Ladle out 1/4 cup batter into the heated pan, and swirl to cover the bottom.   The crepe should set almost instantly.

As soon as the edges begin to dry and pull away from the pan, remove the crepe (this can be done with the fingers) and turn it over allowing the other side to cook quickly. This should only take seconds.  Remove the crepe and place each crepe between two pieces of wax paper to prevent sticking to each other.  These crepes can be done a day or two before.


Filling

Filling
1/ 1/2  pounds ricotta cheese
1/2  cup grated pecorino romano cheese
2 eggs
1- 8-ounce package mozzarella cheese, grated
parsley, salt and pepper, to taste

For the filling, mix the eggs into the ricotta and stir well. Add the salt, pepper and parsley. Then add the romano and mozzarella and mix well.  Spread a large spoonful of the filling on each shell, folding the ends in.  

Put your favorite sauce (I like to use my homemade sauce) in a pan.  Place the manicotti in the pan, seam side down, in a single layer in the pan. Cover with sauce. Cover the pan with foil and cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 30 minutes. Let rest at minimum 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

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CHESTNUTS - Are Not Just for Roasting!

All photo Copyright - ©2010 - La Casa e Il Giardino - picasaweb

Now, let's roast chestnuts.

Mention chestnuts and people think of winter, open fires, and street vendors roasting their chestnuts on the street corners. Chestnuts are also used in soups, stuffing, braised, pureed to accompany many dishes and desserts. Chestnut flour can be found in Italian specialty shops or some health food stores.

When purchasing chestnuts, look for glossy, firm and lovely nuts. They should feel heavy for their size. If they feel light, then they are not fresh and are drying out.

 
Don't have a fireplace or a chestnut roasting pan with holes, sold by many mail order outfits, no problem. I use a cheap, thin steel skillet or roasting pan over a stove.

Before roasting your chestnuts make a cut into the round side of each to keep it from exploding. Put the chestnuts into the roaster, cook them over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes (depending upon their size), shaking them frequently to keep them from burning. When they're done the skins will have pulled back from the nuts, and the nutmeats will be firm but fork-tender. Remove them and place in a deep dish. Wrap or cover with a cloth or dish towel and let them sit in a warm place for five minutes. Peel back the cloth and enjoy!

Roasted chestnuts (Castagne arrostite)



Desserts by the Spoonful: Chestnut and Apple Pudding

This chestnut and apple pudding is tasty but not too sugary since there is no added sugar except that of the fruit used. It’s delicate and natural. It’s prepared with boiled chestnuts and cooked apples with raisins and mixed in a blender. If thick, a few drops of water may be added and possibly even a pat of butter can be used to soften it. Pine nuts or dry fruit may be added as decor.

Cestnut and Apple Pudding
 (Crema di castagne e mele)

For 5 persons

1 lb. chestnuts
½ cup of raisins
1 lb. apples
½ teaspoon of salt
½ cup pignoli nuts or dry fruit

Preparation:

Wash the raisins and leave them in cold water. In the meantime, boil the skinless chestnuts in slightly salted water. Drain. Wash the apples, remove the core and slice. Cook apples and raisins. After cooking, mix ingredients in a blender. If thick, just add a little water. Pour cream in cups and decorate with pignoli nuts or dry fruit.

Sustainable Eating - From Dirt to Table

Last night, the temperature dropped to the upper 30's.  It was time to pull out and recover whatever was left in the vegetable garden.  The only vegetables left were broccoli di rape (rapini).  It was quite chilly this morning, so I pulled up everything, broccoli and leaves.  I figured once inside I would do the cleaning.  Thank goodness for my basement kitchen.

Broccoli and oak leaves










It took me over an hour to clean them.  I only took the little broccoli in the center and disregarded the rest.
After washing them thoroughly, I partially cooked them in salted water, about 10 minutes, to remove some of the bitterness.

Cooking broccoli in water

Home grown broccoli ready to be served
All photo Copyright - ©2010 - La Casa e Il Giardino - picasaweb

Broccoli di Rape (2 bunches if store bought)

In a pan saute' few cloves of chopped garlic in a 1/3 cup of olive oil, add few hot dry peppers (sweet if preferred), salt and pepper to taste  Add pre-boiled rapini and cook few more minutes.  Simple, delicious and healthy.

Sustainable Eating - Lentil Soup with Leftover Ham Bone

As previously stated, I personally hate waste and one of the ways I reduce food waste is to use up my leftovers. It’s an important part of sustainable food recycling.

Lentil Soup with Leftover Ham Bone

All photo Copyright - ©2010 - La Casa e Il Giardino - picasaweb

Ingredients

1 pound bag of lentils

Leftover ham bone
2 ripe tomatoes (chopped)

1 cup celery chopped

1 cup carrots chopped

1/2 cup olive oil

1 onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Wash lentils thoroughly.  In a large pot, place lentils and ham bone and cover with water.  Bring it to a boil and then cover and simmer until tender. Remove the ham bone.  Remove pieces of ham from the bone and save.

In another pot, add the olive oil, onion and garlic.  Saute' for 2 minutes, add celery, carrots and tomatoes.  Simmer until carrots and celery are tender.  Add the cooked lentils, pieces of ham and adjust salt and pepper to taste.  At this point, if soup is too thick, add some water, mix well and simmer for few minutes.