Sandi is blogging from the WhistleStop Cafe kitchen. It's all about good home cooking; food, family and fun. Thousands of posts . . .

~In the south and around the world.



Sunday, July 27, 2008

Sunday Slow Bakers

We are coming to the end of our Sunday Slow Baking; we have been making our way through Gina DePalma's cookbook 'Dolce Italiano'.

This week Cindy Ruth at Baked Alaska selected Taralli. What??? I had no idea what these were. The recipe calls for flour, wine, and olive oil. I didn't give it much hope... but being a dedicated slow baker I decided to give it a try. They are actually an Italian pretzel~ with a little extra kick.

Taralli with Red Pepper and Oregano
4 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tbs kosher salt
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs oregano
1 cup plus 2 Tbs white wine
1 cup olive oil

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the wine and oil, beating until the dough is soft and velvety. Cover the bowl and allow to rest for 2 hours, or refrigerate over night.

Preheat the oven to 375°. In a large pot add 1 Tbs salt to about 4 quarts of water and bring to a boil.

There is a process of making the Taralli. First roll the dough into thin ropes about 5 inches long. Fold them into a ring. Drop the rings into the water and wait for it to rise. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and set on paper towels to dry. Finally, bake for 25-35 minutes, until crispy brown.
I can see why Nonna's have such beautiful hands, when rolling out the dough, the olive oil soaks in. The whole kitchen smells wonderful. I can only imagine how exciting it is for children to help make their own Taralli... when they float to the top of the boiling water it is magic!
I wish I had smell-a-blog (has that been invented yet?). These hot out of the oven are amazing. Buon Appetito Y'all,
Sandi

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sandi-Your Taralli's look wonderful. I love the shape-I was afraid if I didn't really push those 2 ends together they would come apart in the boiling water. But yours look perfect!

Darius T. Williams said...

Um, so that looks absolutely delicious. I bet a red pepper aoili or some type of garlic dip with be great with these. Ohhh, garlic and cheese - maybe romano?

Great job!

-DTW
www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com

lululu said...

i'm not a big pretzel fan cos they are always dry, especially those sold on the New York sidewalks.

but yours seem a really great invention. crispy and flavorful with that red pepper kick. just like pretzel-shaped donuts! i love it!

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

Cindy~ The shape reminded me of the pink ribbons for breast cancer... it's funny how that was my first thought.
DariusT~ Glad you stopped in, anytime my chicago friend.
LuLu~ they remind me of the bready pretzels from Germany... of course I had to add a little extra kosher salt.

Francie...The Scented Cottage Studio said...

It's probably a good thing there isn't SmellABlog...we would all be camped out at your place!

(())

ShabbyInTheCity said...

They're pretty too! So is it just a snack or do you serve it with anything?

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

Francie~ you know that smell-a-blog is just around the corner!
Shabby~ Bill did eat his with some mustard for daubing. I liked mine for a snack...just like a pretzel.

Anonymous said...

Your taralli look like they are jumping right out of the page at me! Too bad they haven't invented taste and smell yet through the internet. YUMMY!!

Tina Leavy said...

hey there Sandi..long time no visit on my part..I'm so sorry that I haven't stopped by much sooner.
shame on me..no excuses really I just had become very slack on blog hopping.
anyhow..hope you forgive this gal.
now...those Taralli's look interesting..have never heard of them before, but they look like cute little pretzel things..I bet they taste and smell delightful though.
bet they'd be good with a nice Italian meal.
have a great week.
Tina

Lori Lynn said...

I have never even thought about making pretzels. Those tarallis look so good, and I really like the flavorings.

I can smell them Sandi :)

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

Girasole~ They certainly jumped in my mouth!
Tina~ I totally understand... I'm just glad you made it by.
Lori~ so my smell-a-blog is working!

Heather said...

Oh that looks yummy!

gail said...

These look very delicious! Thanks for sharing!

Related Posts with Thumbnails