When you travel to Puglia, the “heel of the boot” as we call in Italy delicious food is literally everywhere. It’s vegetarian too! I know a lot of British people LOVE baking so I wanted to share this fab recipe for one of my personal favourite bread we use to snack or to accompany an aperitif or a nice glass of Italian wine in the evening. Happy baking!
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Traditional Taralli Recipe from Puglia
Prep Time: 1 hours, 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hours, 40 minutes
Yield: About 100 taralli
Serving Size: Unlimited!
Ingredients
- 4 cups (1 lb, 500 grams) flour
- 1 tsp (10 grams) salt
- 2/3 cup (150 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup (200 ml) dry white wine
- optional spices:
- 1-2 tsp fennel seeds or cracked black pepper
Cooking Directions
- In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt.
- Add the oil and wine, and mix with a fork until the dough forms into a rough mass.
- Dump the dough onto a wooden board and knead it for about 5 minutes, until it is smooth.
- If you want to add any optional spices, knead them into the dough (or divide the dough and add spice to ½ of the dough) – knead well to distribute the spice.
- Cover the dough and let it rest, along with your arms, for 15-30 minutes.
- Pinch walnut-sized pieces of dough, roll first between your hands, and then against the wooden cutting board, so that the dough forms a thin rope, about ½ inch (1 cm) in diameter and 4” long (10 cm).
- Shape each rope into a ring, and seal the edges together by pressing lightly, then set aside the taralli rings on a wooden board and cover with a towel.
- In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to boil.
- Put 6-10 of the taralli into the boiling water, and when they float to the surface – this will only take 30-60 seconds – remove them with a slotted spoon and place them on a cloth to dry and cool.
- Tip: Try not to plop one tarallo on top of another when dropping them into the pot, and if they stick to the bottom, give them a gentle nudge with the slotted spoon
- Put the cooled taralli on baking sheets and bake in a preheated oven at 375°F (200°C) for about 25 minutes, until golden.
- Remove and cool on racks.
- Store in a closed container to keep them crisp, and serve with an aperitivo – they are the a nice accompaniment for the rest of that dry white wine – or pile them into a breadbasket at dinner.