This cherry tomatoes Tarte Tatin is a very intriguing and tasty appetizer which gives a new perspective to a typical Italian ingredient. in these last years, in Italy too there was the introduction of the recipe of the Taste Tatin with its fascinating story as one of the many masterpieces that was created by a mistake.

There are different versions in Italy, since many decided to replace the sweet apples with confit cherry tomatoes and the crisp pastry, in which Parmigiano cheese and thyme combine to make this heavenly Italian appetizer.

I copied this recipe from a brilliant blogger, one of the best in Italy, Sonia Peronaci  and if we follow the instructions you can make it perfectly every time.

In case you need to serve it to a celiac person or want to try a variation with spring onions there is an interesting variation in the blog.

Bring it to room temperature before serving.

Prep Time: 30 mins | Cooking Time: 35 mins | Yield: it serves 4.

Ingredients 

Ingredients for a 26 cm (10 inch) diameter cake tin,  3-4 cm (2-2,5 inch) high

For the savory shortcrust pastry

• 250 g (2 cups) multi-purpose flour
• 40 g (1,4 oz) Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
• 140 g (5 oz) unsalted butter, very cold
• 1 medium egg
• 6 thyme sprigs
• salt and pepper to taste

For the filling

• 650 g (1,5 lb) red cherry tomatoes
• 20 g (1 + 1/2 tbsp or 0,7 oz) white sugar
• 1 clove garlic
• 4- 5 thyme sprigs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 15 g (0,5 oz) pine nuts

Preparation

The savory shortcrust pastry

In a food processor, add flour and cold butter into small piecesand blend for a few moments until the butter is reduced to very fine crumbs.

Add the grated cheese, egg, thyme, salt and pepper and blend again until all the ingredients are mixed together.

Turn the mixture over on the work surface and knead quickly until the mixture is smooth and homogeneous. Form a ball with the dough and, using a rolling pin, roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper. Once you have created a circle of about 30 cm, place it on a baking sheet and store in the refrigerator to firm.

The filling

Take a cake tin or pan suitable for baking in the oven and cooking on the stovetop with a diameter of 26 cm and add a little extra virgin olive oil to the bottom, a clove of garlic, and thyme leaves. On medium heat on the stove top, sauté and brown the garlic then remove it and put the whole tomatoes in a pan adding sugar, salt and pepper then cook for 10 minutes and then turn off the heat.

Pine nuts

Put the pine nuts in a pan on low heat and cook until golden and crispy, taking care to turn them often so as not to burn them. Let them cool.

Assemble and bake

Take the salted pastry, pierce the surface with the tines of a fork (or with a toothpick) and place it on the cherry tomatoes treading the outer edges towards the inside of the pan as if to embrace them. You can help yourself in this operation with a spatula.

Bake the tarte tatin in a preheated static oven at 175 degrees Celsius for about 35 minutes (or 350 F for 30 mins)

Remove from the oven, wait 10 minutes so that the juice of the tomatoes is absorbed by the pastry and turn it upside down on a serving plate. Add some toasted pine nuts on the surface, a few fresh thyme leaves and serve your slice of tasty salted tarte tatin with cherry tomatoes!

Wider than “angel’s hair” pasta but thinner than tagliatelle noodles, tajarin (tagliolini noodles in the  Piedmont dialect) were made in the Langhe and Monferrato area farmsteads, in the Piedmont region. From the 15th century, tajarin spread throughout Piedmont, as related in early chronicles. 

It is a festive dish, enjoyed mainly during important celebrations. The generous quantity of
egg yolks in this amazing pasta makes it a “rich” dish, not the best choice
during the working week. Purists consider tajarin to be genuine when it
is made with at least 30 egg yolks per kilo of flour.

I enjoyed tajarin in Alba, a town in Piedmont that is famous for its sophisticated cuisine and famous “white truffle”. 
The restaurant’s pièce-de-résistance was tajarin with white truffle
finely sliced with the special truffle slicer (done by the waiter at my table), tossed with Malga butter (a very fresh rich butter made in a shepherd’s cottage in the mountains). I made my own butter at home: I bought fresh whipping cream and put it in the bowl of a stand mixer, and whisked it at maximum speed until the fat content emulsified. Then I picked up the butter with wet hands and rolled it into balls which I plunged into a bowl of ice water. It only takes few
minutes.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cooking Time: 5 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Yield: Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients

• 7 egg yolks (if the dough is too dry, you can add a few tablespoons of egg white)
• 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp (40 g) butter
• 1 tin of crushed tomato 

Instructions

  On a wooden pastry board, pour the flour into a mound, make a hole in its centre and drop the egg yolks into it.

Mix by hand to make a dough that you are going to roll out using a rolling pin.

Let the dough sit for at least 30 minutes, wrap it in cling film or, even better, cover it in a glass bowl.

Roll the dough into a sheet about two millimetres (1/24-inch) thick. Let it dry for at least an hour and a half (depending on the season, in summer 15 minutes are usually enough. The sheet of dough must be dry enough not to stick when you roll it but still flexible to be rolled on itself without breaking).

Flour it lightly, fold a few times to form stacking layers and, using a knife, cut fettuccine about 2 millimetres wide (1/24 inch).

Boil them in salted water for a couple of minutes if they are fresh. If they are frozen, put them directly in the boiling water without thawing, and add a minute to cooking time.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan, add the drained pasta and 3-4 tablespoons of cooking water, mix and serve. Slice the truffle directly on pasta in the dishes. 

Around the time of the grape harvest in Tuscany, in all Florentine bakeries you can find a very popular dessert, flat bread with grapes (schiacciata con l’uva). This a seasonal dessert made with bread dough, , olive oil, rosemary and grapes. Some recipes include red wine, finely chopped rosemary and anise seeds. I prefer a simpler version, in which I heat the oil with a sprig of rosemary at a very moderate power (oil must not fry) and use the rosemary as a brush.

It’s an excellent dessert when fresh, like all leavened cake, based on bread dough, the day after tends to get rubbery, so my advice is warming it up for few minutes in an electric oven.

Prep Time: 35 minutes | Cooking Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Yield: Makes 8  servings.

TIP – rising time: 4 hours for rising

Ingredients for the dough

• 4⅓  cups pastry flour
• ½ cup white sugar
• 5 tbsp delicate olive oil or seed oil
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 0.35 oz fresh active yeast or ½ packet instant yeast (1 tsp)
• 1¼ cups warm water
• A pinch of sea salt

Ingredients for the filling

• 2 lbs red concord grapes
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp cane sugar

Instructions 

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and add the sugar, then mix in the oil and the sifted flour. Add the salt last.

The dough must be very soft and sticky. In order to work it, you should spread some drops of oil on your hands.

Spread a tablespoon of oil on the dough and fold the outer edges into the centre as you turn the bowl. Let it rest for 15 minutes, covering with cling wrap.

Again, spread a tablespoon of oil onto the dough and repeat folding. Let it rest for 45 minutes, covering with cling wrap.

Repeat, and let the dough rest for 2 – 3 hours, until the dough has doubled in size.

Heat the oil with a sprig of rosemary and prepare a baking tray with parchment paper. Brush it with the flavoured oil using the rosemary sprig, and sprinkle a tablespoon of cane sugar on it.

Pre-heat the oven to 480 F (250 C).

Divide the dough into two parts. Place a piece of it on the prepared parchment, using your fingers and not a rolling pin to flatten it out, but not too thin. Brush with a tablespoon of oil, sprinkle with sugar, and spread with half of the grapes.

Repeat and lay the other half of the flattened dough on top, using your fingers to seal the edges. Again, brush with a tablespoon of oil, sprinkle with sugar, and add the remaining grapes.

Lower the oven temperatures to 430 F (220 C) and bake the flat bread for 20-25 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick. Let cool, and serve.

Zabaione is a fluffy mixture of egg yolks, sugar and a sweet wine, usually a Moscato d’Asti or Marsala wine. As a mousse, the addition of fresh whipping cream lends a more sophisticated touch to a very traditionale dessert.

Cooked in a bain-marie, zabaione is usually served, still lukewarm with crunchy biscuits called lingue di gatto as they are reminiscent of cat tongues. Easy to make, these biscuits are made with egg whites, and they are ideal for scooping up the zabaione.

This recipe is quite similar to making eggnog, including the addition of fresh cream: in this case it is whipped, and with gelatine, it gives a unique texture to this dessert.
In this recipe I offer two different ways of serving it: either in a cocktail cup with a biscuit and mixed berries, or a type of sandwich made with two biscuits.

Zabaione is traditionally appreciated in all of Northern Italy. The recipe seems to have originated in Piedmont in 15th century, and there are probably individual variations. Is also typical of Romagna, where it was turned into a liqueur called Vov.
Near Forlì, a local restaurant owner found a precious recipe book (published in 1907), when helping friends clearing out an old attic. In it, a woman who lived there at the time had made notes. The ingredients are quite different, but it testifies the deep appreciation for this dessert and its taste. This mousse is quite often served in small dark chocolate cups, inside croissants or with poached pears in red wine.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cooking Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 60 minutes | Yield: Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients

• For the zabaione
• 1 cup (250 ml) whipping cream
• ⅓ cup (80 ml) dry Marsala wine or brandy
• ¼ cup (60 g) white sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tsp (5 g) gelatine

• For the lingue di gatto biscuits
  
• 3½ tbsp (50 g) butter – room temperature
• ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar
• 1 egg white
• ½ cup (50 g) cake flour

Instructions

For the zabaione

In a large saucepan, bring 1 inch of water to a simmer. Remove from heat and melt the gelatine in the water.
In a large copper or stainless-steel bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until thickened and light yellow in colour. Whisk in the Marsala wine or brandy and place the bowl over the pan of simmering water. Mix slowly until the zabaione gets thicker, at least 5-6 minutes.
Add the gelatine to the zabaione, and stir until it is perfectly combined.
Turn off the heat and move the bowl to a cold bain-marie. Cover the bowl with food wrap and place it in the fridge to set for 20 minutes.
Whip the cream and fold it carefully into the zabaione. Fill a pastry bag with a star nozzle.
Place the biscuits on a dish, squeeze the mousse on them, and cover with another biscuit. Repeat the process and add some berries to add colour. Serve.

For the lingue di gatto biscuits
Pre-heat the oven to 375° F (190° C).
Get 2 muffin trays and brush each bottom and sides with melted butter, then cover the bottoms with parchments rounds.
In a bowl, mix the butter and the sugar carefully with a spatula, without letting it become fluffy. Add the egg whites, and mix until smooth. Add the flour until it is incorporated. Place the mixture in a pastry bag with a plain 10 mm tip.
Pipe a dollop of the mixture onto each parchment round and place in the oven for 10 minutes. When the biscuits are cooked, place them on a cooling grill to dry, and only when they are perfectly dry and crunchy, place them in a biscuit box.
To make the traditional cookies, lay parchment paper on a cookie sheet and pipe 10 cm-long rows.

This Christmas Log, also known as Swiss Roll, originates from the French Bûche de Noël.

It represents the ancient tradition of burning a large log in the fireplace which started on Christmas eve and was supposed to last for the entire festive period, later replaced by this suggestive dessert. Nowadays, the different fillings for the sponge cake can vary from pistachio to tropical fruits. In the European tradition, we can find similar cakes all over the Western countries, such as in Spain with its Brazo de Gitano literally the Gipsy’s Arm, which probably share a very common concept.

Although it is not an extremely difficult recipe, it is fundamental to respect the temperature and cooking time for the sponge cake. If it dries out too much, it will be impossible to roll, and it will break.

Prep Time: 45 minutes | Cooking Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour| Yield: Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients

For the sponge cake

• 5 eggs
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ tbsp (10 g) honey
• 1 cup (100 g) cake flour, sifted
• ¾ cup (140 g) white sugar

For the chocolate ganache

• 1½ cups (350 ml) fresh whipping cream
• 12.5 oz (350 g) dark chocolate, chopped

Instructions

Put a bowl in the freezer.

For the sponge cake

Pre-heat the oven at 425° F (220° C)

Separate the eggs, and put the yolks in the bowl of a free-standing mixer and in another bowl, whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt.

Add the honey, the sugar, and the vanilla to the yolks, and beat for 7 to 9 minutes with the whisk attachment.

Gently fold in the whipped egg whites in two batches using a large spoon, with large circular movements from top to bottom.

When it is well-mixed, add the flour in 3-4 batches. Pour the batter in a 12×15 inch (30×37 cm) baking pan, covered by parchment. Level it, creating a ½ inch (1 cm) layer.

Bake for 5-6 minutes until golden and firm.

While it is baking, prepare a film layer on the kitchen top, the surface must be larger than the one of the sponge cake.

When the sponge cake is ready, lay the top of it on the film, take the parchment off immediately, and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar, in order not to make it stick together. Roll it immediately, using the film to help your work, close and leave it in the film.

For the chocolate ganache

Put the cream on the stove and bring it to almost a boil. Switch off and pour the chocolate in it. Mix it with a whisk until chocolate will be perfectly melted.

Move to the bowl you take off the freezer and whip with an electric hand whisk for 10 minutes.

Spread half of the ganache on the sponge cake, except 1-inch (2 cm) from the border. Roll it again, cut a small piece which shall be connected to the log, in order to make a small branch.

Spread the rest of the ganache on the log and use the prongs of a fork to simulate the surface of a log.

The sauce of this unusual linguini with fresh anchovies combines ingredients that are characteristic of Mediterranean cuisine: olive oil, fish, and the introduction of raisins and dried fruit in savoury dishes. This Middle Eastern touch is typical in the cuisine of Italian cities that were in contact with the Arab world for centuries such as Sicily, whose cuisine was deeply influenced by it, like in the case of Sicilian rolls (link to recipe), as well as other cities on the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas, like Venice, Pisa and Genoa, for example.

I had this pasta at Elba, a small beautiful island across from Livorno, rich in iron and exploited since Etruscan times, with a strategic position in the Mediterranean Sea. Pisa and Genoa fought for the dominion of the Tyrrhenian coasts for centuries.

Pisa and Genoa, with Amalfi and Venice were referred to as the Maritime Republics by 19th century historians. They were city-states that were formally independent. During the time of their independence, all these cities had similar (though not identical) systems of government, in which the merchant class had considerable power. Their power and richness came from the economic growth of Europe around the year 1000, together with the hazards of the mainland trading routes, which made the development of major commercial routes along the Mediterranean coast possible. The Maritime Republics’ relationship with the Middle East was constant, alternating periods of peace and fruitful commercial trade with hostility, due to their involvement in the crusades and territorial competition with the Byzantine and Islamic maritime powers. The complex relationship that Italy always had with the Middle East profoundly influenced its cuisine, like this complex sweet and sour taste which cannot be found in other parts of Italy’s cuisine.

Prep Time: 45 minutes | Cooking Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 60 minutes | Yield: Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients for pasta

• 3¼ cups all-purpose flour (400 grams)
• 4 eggs

Ingredients for sauce

• 300 g fresh anchovies, cleaned*
• 40 g pine nuts
• 3 tbsps. breadcrumbs or a slice of stale bread, chopped with a knife
• 30 g raisins, softened in tepid water
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 4 tbsps. olive oil

Instructions for pasta

On a wooden pastry board, pour the flour in a mound, make a well in its centre and crack the eggs into it. Blend by hand, making a dough that you are going to smooth with a rolling pin.  It should be rolled to a 3 mm thickness.  Then cut it into rectangles that will be cut on the chitarra.

Cook the pasta in salted water; if it is fresh, it will cook in a few seconds.

The proportion is always 100 g = 1 egg, per person. Of course since the eggs are never regular you might need to add some flour if the dough is too wet or some water if it is too dry and impossible to work.

TIPS:

As you work it, keep the dough near your belly, when kneading and rolling.

Lean into the dough as you work, exploit gravity, not your shoulders and arms.

Instructions for sauce

In a non-stick frying pan, toast the pine nuts for 2 minutes, and chop them roughly.

Sauté the breadcrumbs in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. When they are golden, add the raisins and pine nuts and sauté together for a minute. Pour everything into a bowl and sauté the anchovies in the same pan for a couple of minutes.

Add the parsley to the other ingredients and mix delicately. Cook the pasta in salted water and add it to the sauce with a couple of tablespoons of its cooking water. Toss with a bit of olive oil and serve.

*Remember to cut off the heads toward the belly and tail, (the direction is important). Pull delicately and the guts will follow too. Insert a finger and detach the spine from the flesh, then break off the spine near the tail.

Fried custard is a versatile dish. According to where you are in Italy, it has different variations: it is considered mainly as an appetizer in the Marche and Emilia regions, a part of a sumptuous mixture of fried treats like apples, stuffed fried olives (olive all’ascolana), different meats, vegetables and zucchini flowers. The different components vary according to seasonal availability. There are also slight differences in the batter for this fried appetizer. Our ancestors, who probably had iron clad stomachs, created these dishes in times when there was no heating in the houses, and everyone had a very active life.

A question that many foreign clients ask is “Do Italians really eat all these courses and food in a single meal?” The average person of my generation cannot, unless there is a special occasion. However, we enjoy offering our guests a taste of the richness and variety of Italian cuisine. A generous attempt that is sometimes misunderstood as trying to kill them with kindness through food.

In Venice, this is considered a Carnival dish and it is part of an incredible variety of fried sweets that Italians adore. Like cenci (link ad altra ricetta), it is part of a collection of fried recipes.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Yield: Makes 8 servings.

Ingredients for the custard

• ½ cup (100 g) white sugar plus more for sprinkling after frying.
• 3 medium egg yolks
• 4 tablespoons (35 g) pastry or 00 flour
• ¼ cup (35 g) corn starch
• 2¼ cups whole milk
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 or 3 strips of organic lemon zest

Ingredients for the batter and frying

• 1½ cups breadcrumbs
• 2 medium eggs
• sunflower oil for frying

Instructions

Gently whisk egg yolks, eggs, corn starch, flour and sugar in a saucepan until smooth, then whisk vigorously until light in colour, 1–2 minutes. Whisking constantly, gradually add the milk in a steady stream; scrape the sides of the saucepan. Scrape in vanilla seeds discarding the pod or add vanilla extract. Add lemon zest. Cook mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it starts to thicken. Continue whisking vigorously until the mixture coats the back of a spoon, 6–10 minutes. Immediately remove the custard from heat (do not bring to a boil). Remove and discard lemon zest.

Using a rubber spatula, pour the custard into a baking dish lined with parchment paper.

Let it cool.

Slide a knife around the sides of custard to loosen, cover with a plate and flip over onto the plate. Peel away the parchment paper and cut into cubes or diamonds.

Pour breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl or on a piece of kitchen paper.

Break the eggs in a bowl and whisk. Using your fingers, dip each cube in the egg mixture, then coat with breadcrumbs, shaking off any excess.

Fry until they are golden, and sprinkle with some sugar.

Make Ahead

The custard can be cooked and left in the dish one day ahead.

This pasta recipe is quite rustic. Savoy cabbage and Italian sausage give a robust quality to this dish, and you can play with different flours. In this case I prefer blending durum wheat and pastry flour, in Italian a “00”, but also using whole wheat or buckwheat is an excellent choice. I do not love artificial colourings; I prefer to add mashed vegetables or aromatic herbs to the flour.

It is a very rich dish, and perfect from a nutritional point of view. If you open the meal with a very fresh salad, the balance will be perfect.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cooking Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour minutes | Yield: Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients for pasta

• 3 eggs
• 1 + 2/3 cups (g. 200) pastry flour
• ½  cup + 1 tablespoon (g. 100) durum wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons of fresh rosemary, finely grinded

Ingredients for the sauce

• 3 sausages (350 g. about 12 oz.)
• 1 small Savoy cabbage
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Marine salt

Instructions for pasta

On a wooden pastry board pour the flours in a mound, make a hole at its center and pour the eggs in it. Join the rosemary. Mix, make a dough that you are going to roll out by hand using a rolling pin.  Roll the dough into a sheet about two mm. (1/24-inch) thick.

While pasta is drying, prepare the sauce.

Instructions for the sauce

Put a big pot with salted water on the stove. Wash and core the cabbage leaves (about half of the cabbage).

In a wok, simmer the onion with the oil.

Peel the sausages, chop them in small chops and join them in the pan. Simmer the ingredients together.

Boil the cabbage leaves for a couple of minutes, and then put them in a bowl with water and ice.

Core and shred the leaves. Join them to the sauce.

Sprinkle the pasta dough with durum flour and roll it. Cut it in stripes. If it does not dry, cut it with the tool.

Boil pasta in the same water where you boiled the cabbage and pour it in the wok with the sauce. Add a couple of tablespoons of boiling water, and mix all the ingredients together. Add a bit of olive oil before serving the pasta.

Paccheri is a new pasta shape particularly well suited for being stuffed. With truffle sauce, sausage, and porcini mushrooms, it is ideal for festive occasions. In winter, I always look for occasions to turn on the oven, and this recipe is perfect for holidays and meals with friends and family around a festive table.

It is a rich dish, and a bit time-consuming, but you can prepare the filling in a piping-bag and the sauce in advance, and compose the dish at the last moment.

Porcini mushrooms and white truffle are seasonal and are considered  the sovereigns of Italian cuisine.

Prep Time: 1 hour | Cooking Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour + 30 minutes | Yield: Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

• ¾ lb. (300 g.) Paccheri pasta

Ingredients for the stuffing

• 13 oz. (400 g.) potatoes, boiled and mashed
• 6,5 oz. (180 g.) Italian sausage
• 1 big egg
• 1,5 oz. – 1/3 cup (50 g.) white truffle paste
• Sea salt and black pepper for seasoning

Ingredients for the sauce

• 1 + ½ tablespoons (20 g.) butter
• 3 tablespoons (20 g.) flour
• 1 cup (200 ml.) milk
• 3 oz. (100 g.) Porcini mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley, finely minced
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• For the final touch:
• Parmigiano Reggiano, a piece

Instructions

In a blender, combine the ingredients for the filling. Mince everything finely and pour them in a piping bag.

In a pot, make a béchamel melting the butter over low heat, combining the flour and salt and whisking with a fork as you add to prevent lumps. Add the milk a little at a time, whisking as you pour. Raise the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes to thicken, whisking to prevent and break up any lumps (eventually use an immersion blender).

In another small pot, combine olive oil, parsley and garlic and simmer for 1 minute over very low heat, then join the mushroom, cover with a lid and cook for 2 minutes.

Join half of the mushroom to the béchamel and mix with an immersion blender.

Pour the sauce on a serving dish that can be used in the oven.

In a pot with salted water, boil the pasta for 2/3 of the cooking time indicated on the box.

Drain pasta and sprinkle with a tablespoon of olive oil and mix. When it is tepid, stuff it with the filling and gently lay it on the sauce, vertically.

Arrange the remaining mushroom around pasta and grate chips of Parmigiano using a potato-peeler.

Bake it in pre-heated oven for 10 minutes at 400 F. (200 C).

With the Bologna Certosino (Chartreuse cake) I want to introduce you to a typical Christmas cake of Bologna cuisine, with almonds, pine nuts, unsweetened chocolate and candied fruit. It is almost unknown out of Emilia-Romagna region: sadly, the fame of many regional cakes is clouded by industrial products, which I am not a great fan of.

This cake is called panspeziale (apothecaries’ bread) – a kind of gingerbread, since in Middle Age it was created and baked by apothecaries (speziali).

Later, the Bologna Chartreuse friars began to bake it, and it was named after them. Other scholars believe the origin of his name is due to “special bread” (pan spzièl ) in Bologna dialect.

After careful historic researches, in the summer of 2003, Bologna delegation of Academy of Italian Cuisine deposited at Bologna Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, the official recipe of Certosino.

This one, nevertheless, is not the canonic recipe but my mum’s, since that, like in all families, there is always the addition of little personal touches.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Yield: Makes 8-10 servings.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup (100 g.) whole almonds, peeled
• ¾ cup (100 g.) pine nuts
• 1 cup (100 g.) dried figs, in chunks
• ¾ cup (100 g.) raisins
• 1-cup (100 g.) walnuts
• 7 oz (g. 200) diced candied fruit mix
• 21 oz. (g. 600) whole candied fruit (orange, cherries, cedar)
• 1-tablespoon anise seeds
• 1-teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 cups (250 g.) pastry flour
• ½-cup (100 g.) white sugar
• ¾ cup (80 g.) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1-teaspoon baking soda
• Tepid water

Instructions

Heat the oven, 350 F. (180 C.)

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients, adding the diced mixed fruit, except the candied ones which must be left in a whole.

Pour the mixture in a baking pan, previously covered with parchment. Use the candied fruits to decorate the top of the mix and bake it for 40 minutes at 350 F. (180 C.).

Check with a wooden toothpick if it is cooked. If the stick is still wet, add 10 minutes.