Friday, May 24, 2013

Ricciarelli From Siena











Siena is a beautiful city in Tuscany known to most foreigners for its palio - a colorful horse race that's held each July and August in the city's main square, or campo. I wasn't there this year for the palio but I  was happy to return to Siena earlier this month for many reasons.





One of them was meeting Patrizia, a blogger friend who writes "Andante Con Gusto" , and who spent some time with me and my son during our visit to Siena. A morning cappuccino was in order, so at Patrizia's suggestion, we headed to Nannini, a historic cafe known for its delicious pastries.






And when you're in Siena, you can't talk about sweets and not try the city's signature cookie-- ricciarelli. They're made with almonds, sugar, egg whites and orange zest, and you'll find them in shops  and bakeries all over town. Nannini's version was about as perfect as you can get - crunchy on the outside with a coating of powdered sugar, yet soft on the inside and bursting with almond flavor. There's a recipe for ricciarelli at the end of this post, but first a detour to Siena's cathedral, one of the most beautiful in the world.




The cathedral dates back to the middle ages is a masterpiece of architecture and art, starting from the ornate marble exterior built in a combination of styles - Tuscan Romanesque on the lower part, and French Gothic above. Many of the features were added in later years, including the three glittering triangular mosaic panels made in Venice in 1878.




Inside the cathedral is so much artwork - from sculptures by a young Michaelangelo, to a magnificent marble pulpit by Nicola Pisano - that it would be easy to include dozens of photos on this post. But I'll confine it to one photo of the stunning Piccolomini Library adjoining the cathedral. The library is surrounded on all four sides by breathtaking frescoes created by Pinturicchio, detailing the life of Siena's favorite son - Cardinal Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who eventually became Pope Pius II in 1458




OK, so I lied, there's another photo inside the cathedral, but this was so funny I couldn't help myself. This shows the massive black and white marble columns as well as yours truly dressed for the occasion. The similarity in architecture and sartorial dressing was purely accidental -- honest!






Now on to the more important stuff -- lunch! Patrizia guided us to a restaurant she said a lot of locals frequent, simply called "Osteria." 


Wild boar, or cinghiale, is common on menus at Tuscan restaurants. This plate of tagliatelle with a wild boar sauce was hard to beat.




But I tried. My eyes zoomed in on an unusual main course of cinghiale prepared in "dolce e forte" - translating to "sweet and strong." The waiter told me that the recipe included chocolate, as well as vinegar, and it was heaped with almonds and raisins too. I was sold after he mentioned chocolate. Well, no surprise - I loved it and will try to recreate it when the cooler weather comes. Stay tuned for a post on it later this year.




 Here's another dish you might not be familiar with called "agretti" - plural for agretto. They're sometimes called "barba di fratte" translating to "monk's beard" for obvious reasons. Even in Italy, agretti are not all that common and I've had trouble finding seeds for them there too. But this year I discovered an online source and planted some in my garden.  If you're interested in growing agretti, you can buy seeds for them at "Seeds From Italy."  Mine are still a bit immature to pick, but I hope to write a post on them after they're a little sturdier and ready for harvest. Let me know if you've ever eaten them. 


They taste a little like swiss chard, even though they look like thick chives. I've usually eaten them boiled, then tossed with olive oil, garlic and lemon juice, but at Osteria, they were served with a pesto made from anchovies, capers, pistachios and olive oil - delicious, but a little went a long way.







Patrizia also suggested we stop for a late day snack at this place, which sells a lot of Tuscan products and also has a fresh bakery with some of the best flat breads I've ever eaten. 




 The flat bread was delicious in its own right, but also a relief from the typical bland Tuscan bread that's made without salt and that hardens like a rock in no time. Legend has it that salt is omitted because of an ancient salt tax, but Tuscans will tell you it's because the bread is a perfect accompaniment to their regional cuisine.




I would certainly eat it with these cinghiale sausages for instance (even though I'd prefer salted bread.)




 But for dessert, forget about bread and dig into these ricciarelli instead - a true Tuscan treat. 








Ricciarelli 

printable recipe here




Recipe From Story of A Kitchen

  • 3 cups (300g) almond flour (also called almond meal)*

  • 1 1/3 cups (280g) granulated sugar

  • 1 1/4 cups (150g) powdered sugar

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • grated zest of 1 small orange (I used a small orange, but could have used more)

  • 2 egg whites

  • 2 teaspoons almond extract

  • pinch salt



Instructions



  1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.**

  2. Mix the almonds with the sugar, scant 1 cup of the powdered sugar, the baking powder and the orange zest in a bowl. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks, then stir them into the almond mixture. Using a large spoon, mash the mixture to a wet, sticky mass. Stir in the almond extract.

  3. Using an ice cream scoop (size #60), scoop dough into balls and form into oval shapes. Roll in the remaining powdered sugar, and flatten slightly. Put them onto the parchment-lined baking sheet, allowing room to spread slightly, and sift the remaining powdered sugar over the tops. Leave the cookies at room temperature for about 1 hour to dry a little before baking. (With my #60 scoop, I made 43 1/2 cookies exactly.)

  4. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F (140 degrees C). Bake the cookies for about 30 minutes (or less!), or until they are lightly golden and a little firm on the outside (the insides should still be soft). Cool completely and store in an airtight container. They keep for just over a week if you don’t constantly find another excuse to go to the kitchen and, say, wipe down the counters or check that the milk didn’t escape from the fridge, then sigh and pop open the cookie jar again to nibble.







Important notes



* I bought my almond flour ready-made from Bob’s Red Mill. You can make your own from blanched almonds by grinding 1 tablespoon flour per 1 cup of almonds together in a food processor. The flour prevents the formation of almond butter. However, it also makes it a non-celiac friendly recipe.


** Tip from my testing: You don’t need the parchment, but it’s much better. Cooking directly on the baking sheet will cause the bottoms of the cookies to cook and brown more quickly and you’ll lose the wonderful chew and softness. I would invest in parchment or try to bake on a silicon mat and let me know how that works.






For another recipe and photos of ricciarelli, take a look here:



http://en.julskitchen.com/dessert/ricciarelli-siena-almond-cookies



E per quelli che capiscono l'Italiano, ecco una ricetta da Patrizia con delle belle foto:



http://andantecongusto.blogspot.it/2012/12/i-miei-one-bite-ricciarelli.html



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20 comments:

  1. Those ricarelli look irresistible! That is such a wonderful cookie.

    Thanks for sharing your lovely pictures with us.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. Thank you Linda, for the beautiful time spent together, for this lovely post and for your gorgeous pictures that make me feel lucky to live here.
    I wait for you soon back for the Palio: you won't recognize Siena those day.
    Un bacio grande, Pat

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  3. Ciao linda pur abitando in Italia , ancora non ho visitato la splendida Siena, spero di poterlo fare presto. Bellissimo il tuo reportage. Buon fine settimana Daniela.

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  4. Swoon. The art, the cookies, the black and white stripes, the dinners... swoon and happy sigh.

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  5. Great post, Linda! A "how-to" for a new blogger like me who will chronicle my travels around Italy this summer. See you next week!

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  6. I've always wanted to make ricciarelli-now I think I will. I love them! You are so cute in your outfit matching the marble!

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  7. They sound delicious! I love looking at your beautioful and interesting photos. Your food photos always have me drooling too.

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  8. You could just leave me at that bakery with the flatbread for a couple of hours then pick me up for some ricarelli and espresso! You know I love all your travel photos, such beauty all around!

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  9. What a wonderful post, surely the next best thing to being there. You pix look great, and of course, you rock the theme dressing. The food looks fabulous, and the Ricciarelli are oh so tempting. I am utterly intrigued by the dolce e forte boar dish. It sounds like the Arab influence at work, yet I was, until now, unaware of faving spread so far north. That is fascinating. I am so glad you like Seeds from Italy. No more sneaking seeds back in your suitcase! Thanks for a great post. We armchair travelers depend on you!

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  10. What a lovely cathedral! I say that with some irony because when I visited, full of anticipation, the facade was completely obscured by dense scaffolding, except for the very top. I could have laughed or cried, so chose the former, and got my photo of the colorful top, pointed, section which is one of my favorites, with that same gorgeous blue sky.

    Your photos always capture the subject so well, Linda! The ricciarelli look wonderful, I didn't have them, but did enjoy hand-formed pici for lunch at a very out-of-the-way spot that we loved. I will make the ricciarelli for sure!

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  11. I would love to go to Siena, and I love that you always meet up with bloggers!
    I want to try the panforte from Siena, my friend always sends it to me at Christmas time.
    xo

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  12. The photo of your sweater and the columns is too much! The stripes even line up perfectly. Crazy.
    Oh, this food looks heavenly...
    LL

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  13. adoro Siena, ho passato lì dei giorni meravigliosi durante una mia vacanza, oltre all'ottimo cibo, ovvio, un abbraccio SILVIA

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  14. Ah, you're making me nostalgic... I was in Siena many years ago, in my 20s. Before I get teary eyed, though, those ricciarelli looks wonderful. I'm not big on sweets, but anything with almond paste...

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  15. Wonderful post, Linda. I love to read about and see photos of beautiful cities I have yet to visit. I would like to try every single dish and am happy to settle for a batch of those mouthwatering ricciarelli. I just happen to have a new bag of Bob's almond meal in my fridge.

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  16. non sono mai andata a Siena, è uno dei miei sogni!Un abbraccio..

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  17. I love the texture of almond flour - these must be heavenly. I'm smiling at the photo of you matching the columns in the background :)

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  18. Oh Linda, this post is simply priceless! I miss Italy so much and cannot wait to spend a few days in Florence next spring with my husband (his first time). I save ALL of your posts so that I can follow your footsteps and all of your recommendations for experiences and the FOOD! These cookies are so perfectly Italian and thank you so much for sharing the recipe!

    Baci,
    Roz

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  19. I'm sorry i missed so many of your posts until now, Linda! It has been fun catching up and learning so much about regional Italian cuisine and seeing your wonderful photos. I love Tuscan food, although the salt less bread was also my least favorite.

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