You never can tell what might happen when you let curiosity be your guide. You too, could wind up in a hotel room drinking prosecco and eating tozzetti with a bunch of total strangers. Tozzetti? If you’re thinking they look like biscotti, you’re right, they do. But in Rome and many other places in Italy, these smaller, squat sized cookies are called tozzetti, from the word tozzo, or stubby.
Here we were not in Rome, but in the Val Gardena, at our hotel in Ortisei, where guests sit at the same table for dinner each night. Next to us was a table of about a dozen men, a jovial group who became even more boisterous with laughter when this fellow came down to join them:
One thing, as they say, leads to another, and in this case, the conversation with Roberto led to greetings from the whole group, followed by their insistence on treating the four of us to a round of prosecco.
But there’s another dynamic that happens whenever we ski in Italy, typified by the chance encounter that the friendly atmosphere here promotes. We were so grateful that the man in the Red Brigade happened to walk by our table and respond to our curious inquiry. We made new friends whom we left that night amid hugs, kisses, handshakes and invitations for a personal tour of their city on our next visit to Italy. Treviso, here we come!
In the meantime, back at home, we’ll have to evoke memories of the night with these delicious tozzetti:
Tozzetti
Printable Recipe Here
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 stick plus 3 T. butter, melted
3 cups flour
1 T. baking powder
1 t. vanilla
grated rind of 1/2 lemon
pinch of salt
1 3/4 cup hazelnuts, roasted
Place eggs in mixer and beat with sugar. Add vanilla. Mix flour with baking powder, salt and lemon rind. Add to egg and sugar mixture, alternating with the butter, and mix until well blended. Rough chop the hazelnuts and add them to the dough, using a wooden spoon. Using a buttered cookie sheet or one lined with parchment paper, form the dough into small logs. I fit three “logs” on one cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Let them cool, then slice and rebake in a 425 degree oven for about 10 minutes, turning once. Stand by the oven and watch carefully so they don’t burn.
Tozzetti
4 etti di nocciole tostate e schiacciate grossolanamente
4 uova
4 etti di farina
2 etti e mezzo di zucchero
1 etto e mezzo di burro fuso ( si può usare l’olio di oliva extra vergine
con acidità max di 0,3 per averli ancora più leggeri)
1 bustina di pane degli angeli
Scorza di un limone grattugiato
Sbattere molto bene le uova con lo zucchero. Aggiungere nell’ordine la farina con il lievito, il burro, il limone, le nocciole frantumate grossolanamente.
Aiutandosi con un cucchiaio ed una forchetta fare tre filoncini larghi circa 5 centimetri ed alti 2, metterli in una teglia antiaderente o appena imburrata ed infarinata. Passare in forno a 180 gradi per circa 15-20 minuti ( fino a quando all’esterno i panetti diventano leggermente abbronzati). Far raffreddare, poi tagliare fettine larghe poco più di un centimetro. Rimettere in forno e biscottare quanto basta da ambo le parti in modo da vederli appena abbronzati. Per fare bene queste operazioni occorrono solitamente tre teglie. E’ bene conservarli, una volta raffreddati, in un contenitore per alimenti chiuso ermeticamente.
splendida ricetta! e che belle foto :-) ciao Ely
ReplyDeleteAdoro leggere i tuoi racconti. Ottima la ricetta dei biscotti. Buona settimana Daniela.
ReplyDeleteAre these the biscotti-like cookies they eat with wine? A friend introduced me to them just a few weeks ago. Cookies dipped in wine? Seriously fabulous! :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, my, how I would love to sit at the table with you and your friends, Linda, drinking prosecco and eating tozzetti! I love biscotti, so I will have to try your "stumpy" recipe for these lovely cookies.
ReplyDeleteHave you noticed that most of the Italian men have nice full heads of grey hair???
ReplyDeleteHmmmm, must be the good food and vino!
You don't take a bad photo!
Linda, fantastiche foto, belli i biscotti e sopratutto grande la ricetta in italiano!!!!
ReplyDeleteIl tuo post à interessante e piacevole... baci
your story makes these tozzetis even more special. Must've been a wonderful experience skiing on such beautiful slopes accompanied by new friends, each with a interesting story to tell. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteTozetti, biscotti, whichever they are, they are perfection. I want to give your recipe a go as they look delicious.
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying your vacation in Italy and the Tozetti is ready to be maked but I need to know why they are not called biscotti?
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're having such a wonderful vacation! And Tozzetti look so scrumptious with hazelnuts!
ReplyDeleteAnother beautiful post from that superb trip of yours. I am amazed at the great experiences and food you had. Meeting people while traveling is half of the fun of taking a trip. These guys look like fun. And if ever I wanted to paint a still life, it's of that blue-lined box filled with cookies and the coffee cup nearby with the red flower. Just lovely. The recipe sounds delicious too.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting and distinguished group of men that you met, Linda! How nice to now have them as your friends in Treviso the next time you visit Italy!
ReplyDeleteThe tozzetti look delicious! A perfect little treat with coffee.
What a trip! That's all I can say, each post better than the next and so fun to read about, thanks! You look gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteCHE!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing journal of an incredible year! I'm so happy to have come across your blog. Looking forward to reading more!
ReplyDeletelooks like an awesome time and so cute tozzetti.
ReplyDeleteciao Linda! lovely post, thank you.
ReplyDeleteAccademia Italiana della Cucina has chapters in America, too. i belong to the NYC chapter. we try to preserve authenticity and tradition of italian cooking. one of our activities is we go to dinners to so called Italian restaurants and we give ratings to the food and service. we are tough!
Beatrice www.gustiamo.com
Meeting new friends is one of the great joy of traveling. Thanks for sharing your wonderful travel stories with us, Linda.
ReplyDeleteSounds like such an awesome way to spend some time - and the Tozzetti looks fabulous!
ReplyDeleteBoy, I love Italians! Always so friendly and generous. That evening sounds like a blast! Lucky you! And what wonderful, perfect tozzetti! Great recipe!
ReplyDeleteTozzetti is in my future. If I bake them, will I find myself surrounded by ten jovial, laughing men? Paul (husband-person) gave me La Cucina for Valentine's Day. I am reading it like a novel, cooking and finding some long-lost family recipes. It is a treasure.
ReplyDeletegreat story and recipe. My husband will love these.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you have the printable recipe.. these are a must to make!
ReplyDeleteI was just reading the "about"section. Whenever I read the heritage of my Italian online friends I always get exited and think.. wow.. somewhere way down the line we could be related! :) My mom is Calabrese and my dad is Roman and Abruzzese. :)
I'm so happy for you that you have spent so much time in the land you love!
What a great story (and cookies!).
ReplyDeleteIt's such an Italian story and one of the many reasons I love living here.
Yes for a moment there I thought they were biscotti. They look delicious and a great way to celebrate with a dozen friends! Thanks for sharing your memories.
ReplyDeleteOh my! I love it! I must try making tozzetti soon. They look perfect!
ReplyDeleteI totally love this story, and the Italians who made it with you! (I really like that cookbook, too - have been reading it but not actually making anything from it yet.)
ReplyDeleteMy ex-boss too is in the Accademia, he had few recipes published too!
ReplyDeleteThe very beauty in traveling, beside discovering new places, is meet new friends, don't you think?
It is a pleasure to admire such photos where everybody is cheerful.
ReplyDelete