Ligurian cuisine is made up of recipes that must be rediscovered. And in order not to forget them, you have to make them live by bringing them into the present. We have reinvented a classic dessert: a fragrant kiss between hazelnuts and chocolate, but with a heart of Nutella®
Pesto and focaccia have become two symbolic dishes of Italian cuisine, they are eaten from North to South and even abroad, but there is still much more to know about Ligurian cuisine. A varied territory, between the Mediterranean Sea and the mountains that combines products of the earth with those of the sea, but above all cultural influences from France, from Sardinia and due to the proximity to the port of Genoa and the trade route that connected it to Piedmont and to the rest of Europe.
In Liguria, thanks to its microclimate and a suitable soil, aromatic herbs grow, excellent wines such as Pigato and Rossese and Taggiasca olives, from which a sweet and fruity extra virgin olive oil is produced. Its peasant cuisine is made of herbs, vegetables and poultry more than sea. In which spices and exotic ingredients, such as chocolate, appear.
The little flames are the emblem of this border kitchen in which the cocoa meets Piedmontese hazelnuts, in a pastry born in the early years of the last century in the footsteps of the fortune of the Baci di Dama. Tradition traces their creation to the Balzola pastry shop, supplier of the Royal House of Savoy, and since the 1950s these cocoa flames they have spread to the most important pastry shops of the Riviera, and then to the entire region – and as often happens, even in every family, which preserves its original recipe.
To prepare ours came to help three sisters Vio with her mother Chiara, who together with her father Aimone are dedicated to the cultivation of their own aromatic herbs, produce wine, oil and run the family farm in the village of Bastia D’Albenga, in the province of Savona. They have prepared the flames like this: with a fragrant shortcrust pastry and a Nutella® filling
Fiammette with Nutella®
Ingredients for about 40 flames
600 g toasted hazelnuts
720 g sugar
30 g egg whites (1 egg white)
90 g honey
60 g unsweetened cocoa powder
200 g egg whites (6 egg whites)
q.s. hazelnut flour
200 g Nutella®
Preparation
Put the toasted hazelnuts in the mixer, add the sugar and grind them, add the 15 grams of egg white to soften everything. Put the hazelnuts with the sugar in the mixer and add the honey, cocoa and the rest of the egg whites. Work the dough until it is all
homogeneous, for about 2 minutes. If the dough is too soft, add some hazelnut flour.
Put the dough in a pastry bag with no.10 star nozzle then line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and create tufts the size of a small walnut. Leaving it to rest for at least 1 hour would ideally be overnight at room temperature.
Bake the following day for 10 minutes at 175 ° C in a static oven.
Let them cool and pair the flames with Nutella ® using a pastry bag.
Credits:
Protagonists: Aimone, Chiara, Camilla, Carlotta, Carolina Vio Production company: MIA production
Executive producer: Vanessa Valerio – Luca Caliri
Director: Alberto Cozzutto
Food stylist: Elisa Lanci
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