The recipe of the Ricci del Sisters of Gattoppardo – Italian Cuisine

The original recipe of the Benedictine nuns of Palma di Montechiaro in Sicily to make the "literary" Ricci del Gattopardo

The Ricci del Gattopardo are not hair, but biscuits, made famous by the famous novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and still produced, as in the past, in the convent of Palma di Montechiaro, a small town in the province of Agrigento in Sicily. The Benedictine nuns of the cloistered monastery of the SS. Rosario still use the same ancient recipe of the time of the Prince of Salina; and sell them to visitors.

In the book by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa: "The monastery of Santo Spirito was subject to a strict rule of enclosure and entry was strictly forbidden to men. Precisely for this reason the Prince was particularly pleased to visit him, because for him, a direct descendant of the foundress, the exclusion did not apply, and this privilege of his, which he only shared with the King of Naples, was jealous and childishly proud. (…) he liked the almond cakes that the nuns made on centenary recipes .

Today the monastery still sells them for € 20 a kilo, but now the pastry shops around it and especially on Easter days also prepare them. Here is the original recipe for making them at home

Ingredients

– 400 g of Agrigentine Almond flour
– 400 g of white granulated sugar
– 4 whole fresh eggs
– the peel of a grated lemon

Method

In a bowl mix the almond flour, sugar, whole eggs and grated lemon rind. Knead with your hands, or with the help of a planetary mixer, until you obtain a homogeneous and consistent mixture.
Pour the mixture into a resistant pastry bag with a wide star nozzle at least 2 cm in diameter, or use an extrusion biscuit form.
Create logs of dough about 8 centimeters long and leave space between one and the other. Sprinkle with granulated sugar and bake at 180 ° C in a preheated oven for at least 10 minutes, until they are golden brown.

The biscuits are stored in a tin box for weeks, in a cool, dry place.

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Three ways to cook lampuga – Italian Cuisine

A lean, cheap and tasty blue fish that perhaps not everyone knows. Here's how to cook it steamed, baked, grilled and how to taste it

Lampuga is a blue fish who lives in the Mediterranean and in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its meat is lean and very tasty and lends itself to many preparations.
Here are some ideas to cook it.

How to fillet the dolphin fish

You can cook the whole lampuga baked or grilled, or fillet it to have a clean cut and without thorns also suitable for children.
Then eliminate the head and tail and then with a sharp knife cut from the belly going up towards the back to eliminate the central bone.
Always remove the skin with the knife that will come off easily.
If you want to cook it in the pan you can also keep it. In this case it is always better to cook the fillet only from the side of the skin to more gently spread the heat to all the meat.

Steamed fillet of dolphins

If you want something very delicate, steam the fillet perhaps with some lemon leaves at the base of the basket.
Accompany it with seasonal vegetables always gently cooked and seasoned with a little oil and aromatic herbs.

Grilled lettuce

For this type of cooking it is better to use whole fish with skin and possibly a barbecue.
In this way the skin is roasted and the inside remains soft, tasty and juicy.

dolphinfish

Baked lampuga

In this case you can do one salt cooking very simple covering the whole fish with coarse salt or even just the bottom of the pan, or you can use the fillets and cook them with potatoes and cherry tomatoes wetting with white wine and oil.
The children will certainly go crazy for the gratin, then bread the fillet with a mixture of chopped bread with garlic and parsley and cook on parchment paper at 200 ° for about 15 minutes.

The perfect mince for fish

We advise you to keep some sort of fridge in the fridge green sauce which is good for all types of fish and can be used both as a condiment or in cooking.
It is prepared by blending parsley with garlic, oil, lemon juice (not too much) and a pinch of salt.
If you like it, a pinch of pepper adds a little sprint.
Add this sauce to the preparations in the pan or in the oven or cold on the grills and steam cooking.

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Chestnut Noodles – Recipe Chestnut Noodles – Italian Cuisine

Add the two flours in a bowl.
Stir and add the eggs in the center, then start to mix and knead until you get a smooth dough.
Cover with a cloth and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

After the rest time, roll out the dough into a thin sheet on a lightly floured surface, then cut the noodles.
Create small nests by rolling a couple of noodles at a time, cover again and let it sit for another 30 minutes.

After this other half hour, prepare the seasoning: Brown the diced pancetta and the rosemary in tufts with a little oil.
Add the coarsely chopped chestnuts and blend with the wine.
Meanwhile boil the noodles in boiling salted water for just a couple of minutes, then drain and add them to the pan with the sauce.
Stir in pecorino and pepper and season with salt.

Chestnut noodles are ready, serve them immediately!