Dolci, or Italian dessert, are often the light and refreshing end to a hearty meal. Ingredients used in Italian dessert recipes vary from region to region, but favorite flavors include almonds, lemons, and fresh whipped cream. Here are just a few of my favorites -- enjoy!
Biscotti
(Almond Cookies)
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Makes 3 dozen
2-1/2 cups almonds
3 eggs
1-1/4cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking powder
Zest of 1/2 lemon
3 cups flour
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees, grease a cookie sheet, and set it aside. Chop the almonds using a food mill. If using an electric chopper instead of the food mill, use the pulse setting to obtain coarsely chopped pieces.
Cut at a 45-degree angle about 1 inch thick while still warm. At this stage it is not necessary to return them to the oven if a softer product is preferred. However, the traditional version of this recipe dictates the hardening process below.
OPTIONAL: for those who prefer the hard and crunchy cookies, after cutting, place the pieces back on the cookie sheet and return them to the oven at 200 degrees for 1 hour or longer until they obtain the preferred crunchiness.
I remember the old, huge brick oven,rebuilt after the war by my great grandparents, cooked unevenly for the last few years of it's life. Sometimes when Mom or Grandma made cookies (especially at easter time) they had to use some tricks to make sure they cooked right.
They moved the baking pans around in different areas of the oven surface, or take out some that cooked more rapidly and move the others in the vacated spots... There was definitely a skill to make sure things didn't come out burned or uncooked that I didn't appreciate until much later.
That oven was built poorly because they had nearly nothing when my grandparents and great-grandparents returned to their ruins. None-the-less, it lasted a good 30 years.
Mele al Vino Rosso
(Apples in Wine Sauce)
Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Serves 6
Ingredients:
6 Granny Smith apples
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sweet red wine
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon flour
Peel and cut the apples in half and take out the core. Set them in a bowl with cold water and the salt to prevent discoloration. In a large skillet combine wine, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1/2 cup of water, and bring it to boil over high heat.
Add the apples, reduce the heat, and simmer covered for 10 minutes, turning them over once. Remove the apples from the wine sauce and add the flour, sifting slowly while mixing with a wire whisk to prevent lumping (If lumps cannot be prevented, remove them with a slotted spoon). Simmer for 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly. Arrange the apples on 6 salad plates, spoon the wine sauce over the top, and serve hot.
The smell of these apples cooking reminds me of autumn and wine making. My grandfather cooked apples for my brothers and me in the new wine at harvest time. It was a treat we loved and looked forward to every year.
Crostata
(Marmalade Tart)
Preparation Time: 50 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8
2 egg yolks plus 1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/2 sticks butter at room temperature
3 cups flour
1 jar (10 ounces) fruit marmalade (any type)
In a small bowl combine egg, yolks, sugar, butter and flour and with dough hooks on a mixer, knead at moderate speed for 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth. Pre-heat the oven at 375 degrees.
On a pastry board, roll out 3/4 of the dough to about 9 inches in diameter (reserve 1/4 and wrap it in plastic to prevent drying). Place it in an ungreased 9-inch pie pan or baking dish (the dough should not cover the sides of the dish, it should fit snugly) and cover the top with the marmalade, leaving a 1/2 inch rim around the edge.
Roll out the remaining dough to about the same diameter or slightly larger and cut it in strips 1 inch wide with a pastry wheel. Place them lattice style over the top of the marmalade, lightly pressing down around the edges to make sure they stick to the bottom dough; cut off any remaining length. Bake for 40 minutes, checking occasionally; if the color begins to get darker than gold around the edge, cover it with aluminum foil. Cool, cut and serve.
When I was growing up, Crostata was a popular dessert in the late spring and summer when fresh fruits are plentiful. It especially reminds me of the times my mother made the different kinds of marmalade.
My most favorite was one she made from fresh tart cherries called Amarene. But first we had to climb the trees and pick the fruits; that was the fun part! My brothers and I would compete on who would climb the highest. Of course Mom yelled at us to get down off the tree. One of her sayings was: "If any of you get hurt I'm not wasting any time. I'll bypass the hospital and take you straight to the cemetery!"
Biscotti al Limone
(Lemon Cookies)
Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Total Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Makes approximately 4 dozen
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter at room temperature
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)
Pre-heat the oven at 350 degrees. Grease 2 cookie sheets or spray them with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, using a mixer, combine the sugar and butter together. Slowly add eggs, milk, lemon peel, lemon juice, flour, and baking powder. Mix well.
With the tip of a spoon, drop the dough in small amounts the size of a walnut on one cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Meanwhile, fill the second cookie sheet with the dough the same way, and bake after the first batch is done.
Let the first batch cool for a few minutes, then remove the cookies from the cookie sheet with a metal spatula and place them on a platter; sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar (optional) while still warm. Repeat the process until finished. Cool and serve.
I remember all the excitement the first time my Mom made these in her brand-new, free-standing, REX, gas stove: a special gift from her Grandparents. It was one of the very first, free-standing stoves in the area, and all the curious neighbors came by to see it.
Everyone cooked mostly over a fire except for some families that had one of those small, 3-burner, white, porcelain-on-steel, cook-tops that sat on a flat surface (much like the ones they use for camping nowadays). They came with unsightly and dangerous gas tanks that could easily explode with tragic results.
