PETRALI - DOLCI NATALIZI - Italian Christmas Sweets

Ingredients

PASTRY

250gr 00 Flour

75gr Sugar

75gr Lard

3 egg yolks

1 x satchel vanilla

pinch of salt

zest of a lemon

(a little bit of water if too crumbly)

FILLING

175gr dried figs (ground)

75gr toasted almonds (ground)

150gr walnuts (ground)

1/4 cup vin cotto

Squeeze of honey

Teaspoon of cocoa powder

Teaspoon cinamon

Rind of an orange (or a lemon if you don’t have an orange)

NB mixture should be firm and easy to roll into balls to use for filling. Pastry should rest for half hour in fridge.

WATCH THE METHOD HERE. Cook on around 180c until golden

Here is a ‘make do recipe’ because I had some bacon left over in the fridge. The original recipe calls for Bucatini pasta and guanciale but I only had spaghetti in the store room and the bacon in the fridge. This recipe is straight from the mamma of my very close friend in Rome.

Ingredients -

1 packet of Spaghetti (or Bucatini)

1 small salad onion (or any mild onion)

Half cup white wine

250gr packet of bacon (or guanciale)

2 cans of peeled tomatoes (or Mutti polpa)

1 of the cans of tomato filled with water (rinse your cans and add to sauce)

Pecorino Romano grated (to have on top after served - if you like it)

Watch the video for the method below. Once the sauce has simmered and reduced back to a nice thickness it’s ready.

Ingredients

• about 5 boiled, peeled and riced (or mashed) potatoes.

• 1 egg

• salt and pepper

• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

• slices (slithers) of mozzarella cheese (about 12 - cut the size of your pinky finger)

• a bowl of breadcrumbs

• sunflower oil to fry

  Mix the potato, egg, parmesan salt and pepper together in a bowl. Scoop out bits of the mix like you would when making a meatball, and roll a log shape on your hand. Press your indwx finger to make a hollow for the cheese and then seal. Roll on a board also if you like. Then roll in the breadcrumbs ready to fry.

  Head to our instagram reels to see the method https://www.instagram.com/the_little_italian_school/reels/

Carangiole (also known as Cartellate in Puglia) are a Christmas delight from my mother in law’s hometown Santa Croce Di Magliano in Molise and this is her recipe. Molise and Puglia are neighbouring regions in Southern Italy along the Adriatic Coast and my mother in law’s hometown is a stones throw from the border that separates Molise and Puglia. I am not sure why these Christmas delights are named differently - that’s something I’ll be asking Zia when we can get back home to Italy.

They are similar to a cannoli/crostoli only a little softer and more fluffy.

Scoll down for the recipe and head to out instagram page to watch how they are made via the ‘reel’.

The Little Italian School instagram

RICETTA - Recipe

2 eggs

2 tablespoons of sugar

50 gr softened butter

1/2 cup white wine

1 teaspoon of raising agent for cakes

Watch ‘reel’ over at our instagram page for the method (click on link below). NB Sunflower oil used for frying

The Little Italian School Instagram

Or scan the QR Code below to take you there -

For the Panelle -

About 300 gr chickpea flour

500ml water

1 tsp aniseed (if you don’t like it leave it out )

Salt and pepper

A handful of chopped parsley

** in a pan - bring to boil stirring for approx 8 min (until thick), add the parlsey once cooked, spread onto baking paper until about 1cm thick and leave to cool and set.

Once set, cut in to squares or rectangles and fry lightly in sunflower oil. Set aside to be served with the vegetable stew.

For the Carciofi -

Half and onion sliced

4-5 Artichokes

About 3 handfuls peas

About 3 handfuls fava beans

1 tblsp capers

Handful Parsley

**I cleaned the carciofi and boiled the hearts seperately and set aside. Then fry the onion in some evoo, add the carciofi, peas, fava beans. Salt and pepper to taste. Top with about half cup of water and let simmer with lid on for about 15 mintues. Add parsley and capers once cooked.

Head to instagram to watch the method - https://www.instagram.com/the_little_italian_school/

Cheese an veg lovers rejoice. You could work your magic and do a few variations with this I am sure. An addition of fried mushrooms? Or why not add the slices of salumi you have in the fridge not getting eaten if you fancy a little meat? You could even make this with layers of pasta. Unleash that wild imagination.

Scroll down for recipe…

Ingredients below but head to REELS in instagram for the method https://www.instagram.com/the_little_italian_school/reels/

For the besciamella:

1/2 litre of milk

50gr butter

About 1/4 cup of 00 flour (but if it seems too thick to spread once cooked then just add a little more milk)

Salt and pepper to taste.

For the rest of the dish:

3 large zucchini (sliced long ways, and plced in to layers in a colander , with each layer getting a sprnkle of salt before the next is layed)

about 2 cups worth each of chopped or sliced mozarella, parmigiano and breadcrumbs (all ready to be sprinkled on the layers as you make them.

Cook on around 185 c - fan forced - for about 40 minutes or until bubbling and golden on top

The time has come to farewell winter (thank gosh) which also means saying goodbye to the winter menu.

Here’s a quick and easy ‘Spezzatino’ Recipe (Meat stew - also known as ‘Carne e Patati’ in Calabrese Dialect). You can watch the method on my Instagram Reel page here https://www.instagram.com/the_little_italian_school/reels/

INGREDIENTI !

1kg gravy beef

1 onion diced

2 carrots chopped chunky

4 celery sticks chopped chunky

4 potatoes chopped chunky

1/4 cup white wine

Lots of bay leaves (at least 5)

Salt (quanto basta)

Topped with water and left to simmer for a good 2 hours or more

Eaten with good bread though steamed rice could also be an option.

I floured the meat lightly before frying- it helps thicken the sauce