Dolci
Autumn Delight with Pomegranate Sauce
Ingredients
600 g of glazed chestnuts, pureed
100 g of "mostarda" of Aglianico grapes
100 g of "vino cotto (sweet "cooked wine")
10 g of chopped hazelnuts
109 of cocoa powder
30 g of sugar
100 g pomegranate sauce
200 g of decorated biscuit (see recipe below)
100 g of cartellate dough (see recipe)
Preparation
Combine all the ingredients: the glazed chestnuts, the mostarda, the vino cotto, the hazelnuts, the cocoa powder and the sugar. Mix well. Line individual moulds with cut out decorated biscuit and
spoon some of the mixture over. Refrigerate 30 minutes approximately. Coat with pomegranate sauce and turn out on cold dishes. Garnish with caramelised vine leaves made out of cartellate dough.
Mostaccioli
Ingredients
300 g of almonds
300 g of cocoa powder
2 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons of sugar
1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 cloves
3 small cups of espresso coffee
Extra virgin olive oil or lard
Preparation
Crush the almonds and the cloves in a mortar. Mix almonds, flour, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Arrange in a mound and make a well. Melt the cocoa powder with the espresso coffee. Pour it in the well and start kneading until you get a smooth dough. Roll out the dough and cut out 3-4 cm rectangles. Place them on an oiled cookie sheet. Bake at 170° C (335° F) until golden. Coat them with white sugar icing or with chocolate icing.
Almonds Lucanian Style
Ingredients
200 g of almonds
500 g of icing sugar
3 egg whites
Cinnamon
Round wafers (os tie)
Preparation
Blanch almonds, 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly, peel, roast and finely chop them. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar, the almonds and a pinch of cinnamon. Combine well all ingredients. Place the round wafers (os tie) on a cookie sheet. Pour some mixture on each one. Bake in a preheated oven at 140° C (275° F), 20 minutes approximately.
Cartellate
Ingredients
500 g of flour
200 g of mosto cotto ("cooked must") or honey
100 ml of white wine
150 g of chopped, roasted almonds
Multicolored sprinkles
60 ml of extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
Preparation
Arrange the flour in a mound and make a well. Pour in lukewarm water and the white wine. Knead to obtain a ball of elastic and smooth dough. Roll out the dough and cut out into strips with a scalloped pastry cutter. Fold the strips on themselves; roll them into ribbons and other shapes. Fry the cartellate in plenty of oil. Drain them on paper towels. Warm up the honey or the mosto cotto with some water. Pour it slowly over the cartellate. Decorate with chopped roasted almonds and with multicoloured sprinkles.
Donuts with Sugar
Ingredients
400 g of flour
15 g of brewers' yeast
Confectioners' sugar
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Preparation
Arrange the flour in a mound and make a well. Pour in the brewers' yeast diluted in lukewarm water. Add a pinch of salt. Combine all the ingredients with the flour and mix to obtain a smooth and soft dough. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 1 hour. Make the ciambelle (like donuts). Fry them in plenty of oil. Drain them on paper towels, turning them upside down. Sprinkle with sugar and serve very hot.
Copete
Ingredients
200 g of sweet almonds
20 g of bitter almonds
600 g of confectioners sugar
3 egg whites
3 g of ground cinnamon
Round wafers (ostie)
Preparation
Roast almonds in the oven, peel them and crush them in a mortar. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Slowly fold in the confectioners' sugar, the almonds and a pinch of cinnamon. Place the round wafers (ostie) on a cookie sheet. Spread some mixture on each one. Bake in a preheated oven at l00°C (215°F), 20 minutes approximately. Serve cold. (Copete can be kept for a while)
Cooked Grape Wine
(Vino cotto can also be prepared with the must of grapes)
Ingredients
10 kg of white or red grapes
Preparation
Rinse the grapes. Discard grape-stalks. Drain thoroughly and dry the grapes on a kitchen towel. Place them in a large saucepan. Cook until thickened. Pass them through a sieve to obtain as much liquid as possible. Pour the liquid in a separate saucepan and continue cooking until it becomes almost solid. Pour it in bottles (previously washed) and cork the bottles. Keep it in a cool and dry place.
Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
300 g of raisins
150 g of walnuts
150 g of almonds
300 g of honey
8 g of ground cinnamon and cloves
50 g of flour
1 lemon
Preparation
Roast the walnuts and the almonds in the. oven for a few minutes. Peel and chop them. Soak the raisins in the water. Drain thoroughly. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Add 2 pinches of cinnamon and ground cloves and grated lemon zest (only the yellow zest; the white part is bitter). Add the hot honey and the flour. Continue to mix until you obtain an elastic dough. Roll out the dough to 2 cm. Cut out different shapes of cookies and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F), 15 minutes approximately.
In a few regions, these cookies are baked over a bed of lemon tree leaves on a cookie sheet. This tradition should be kept, if possible, because of the aroma of the leaves.
Apostles’ Fingers
Ingredients
3 eggs
200 g of ricotta
1 teaspoon of finely ground espresso coffee
Ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of vanilla
80 g of confectioners' sugar
Pinch of salt
Preparation
Beat eggs with a pinch of salt and vanilla. Combine well. Heat an anti-adhesive pan and drop a spoonful of batter in it. Proceed as for a crepe. Turn it and cook until golden. Place it on paper towels. Continue with the rest of the batter. Pass the ricotta through a sieve. Combine with the confectioners' sugar and the finely ground espresso coffee. Spread the filling over the crepes and roll them up. Transfer them on a dessert plate and dust with ground cinnamon.
Ossa di Morti
Ingredients
500 of flour
70 g of sugar
50 ml of anice
Wild fennel seeds to taste
40 g of lard
Salt
Preparation
Arrange flour in a mound and make a well. Add the sugar, the anice, the fennel seeds, the melted lard and a pinch of salt. Combine all the ingredients and knead to obtain a smooth and elastic dough. Roll out little sticks with the dough and shape them into an 8, a braid or a ring. Bake in a preheated oven at 170° C (335° F), 20 minutes approximately. Take them out when they are golden.
Cuccia
Ingredients
350 g of wheat grains
1 L of vino cotto (sweet cooked wine)
150-200 g of sugar
150 g of walnuts
150 g of grated bittersweet chocolate
150 g of pomegranate seeds
Preparation
Soak the wheat grains overnight. Cook them in a large pot of boiling water. Drain thoroughly.
Transfer the wheat grains in a separate saucepan and add the vino cotto, the sugar, the coarsely chopped nuts and the grated chocolate. Combine all ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon.
Cook for 15 minutes and let it cool. At the end, add the pomegranate seeds and mix.
Decorated Biscuit
Ingredients for Sponge cake batter
5 eggs
200 g of sugar
130 g of flour
Preparation
Beat eggs with sugar and add flour.
Ingredients for Decorative Mixture
50 g of butter
50 g of confectioners' sugar
25 g of flour
25 g of cocoa
40 g of egg white
Preparation
Combine sugar and butter. Add the egg white, the flour and the cocoa. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. With the mixture, decorate the bottom of the cookie sheet into a shape of choice (strips, flowers, etc.) and put it in the freezer until thickened. Spread the sponge cake batter over the decorative mixture to 1.5 - 2 cm. Bake at 260 C (500 F), 4 minutes approximately.