Sunday, August 8, 2010

Taralli

I have this newspaper cutting of a taralli recipe which I singled out one night to be on my to-do list.

Taralli is a kind of Italian snack or biscuit which can be sweet or savoury. There are many variations.

I googled for more info and recipes. Most recipes use yeast and white wine and the boiling method before baking. The recipe that I have does not use yeast but requires white wine and extra-virgin olive oil which I don't have either.

Then I came across a recipe which uses red wine (which I have) and baking powder.

Here are the two recipes which I tweaked to get my own.


From the newspaper cutting:

1 cup white wine
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
5 cups plain flour
2 tsp black pepper or chilli powder or chopped fennel seeds
1/2 cup chopped almonds
Whole almonds to decorate
1 beaten egg for glazing


From turosdolci.wordpress :

5 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup red wine
1 cup oil
egg glaze


My tweaked version:

5 cups plain flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin powder (didn't have any fennel)
1 cup red wine
1 cup olive oil
1/2 almond nips
egg glaze


How I Did It:

1. Sift all dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl.

2. Add oil, wine and almond and mix into a dough. Wrap in cling film and rest for 30 minutes.


The dough looks like meat due to the colour of red wine.
3. "Take golf ball-sized pieces of dough and roll between palms of hands to make finger-thick lengths. Form lengths into a loop by pinching the ends together."

4. Place loops on oiled tray. I lined the tray with foil and then oiled it. (makes washing easier)
Egg glaze the top.


The loops on a lined and greased with oil tray.


The egg-glazed loops
5. Bake in pre-heated oven 160 deg C for 40 minutes or when it becomes crispy.

6. Cool and store in air-tight containers.


The baked loops


The inside of a loop

I love the crunchiness and the not-so-sweet peppery taste. It is after all a healthy snack.

I will definitely make this again though it burns a little hole in the pocket because of the red wine. ;P
I will also adjust the size and make them thinner and smaller.
I will also try boiling the loops before baking to find out the difference in taste and texture.

13 comments:

  1. they look so good, what an interesting biscuit! I bet the red wine really helped boost the flavor!
    thanks for sharing!

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  2. hi,,sis,,
    loves so much your food n bakes,too sad don have a chance to pariciate in blogger meet at edith blog,,otheriwse would have a chance to meet u,,n pass some home made mee suah over,,sad lor,,

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  3. I have never heard of this. Thanks for sharing. Looks great!

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  4. Hi Chef Dennis,
    You're spot-on! The red wine did give the biscuit a distinctive flavour!


    Hi Tigerfish,
    It was also new to me! That's why I pulled out the recipe to try!


    Hi Ellie,
    I was surprised that wine is used in the biscuit. No regrets - like the crunchy and peppery taste and it's quite addictive!


    Hi Anonymous,
    Thanks for dropping by. Perhaps you mistook me for someone else. I did not attend any bloggers' meeting. I wished I had been invited. ;P

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  5. Busygran, next time when I host one I will sure to invite you (unfortunately this round, I am not the initiator.

    So this is from which part of the world? Western?

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  6. Hi Edith,
    Thanks for your kind thoughts. I'm looking forward to it. Taralli is Italian snack and there several variations.

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  7. Red wine biscuit...wow..that's awesome!

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  8. Hi, first time at your blog! This looks a lot like pretzel to me. :)

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  9. waw! you are suchhh an expert baker! this sounds divine!

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  10. That's very interesting biscuit to use red wine. Looks cute like doughnut but crunchy.

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  11. Hi Bust Gran,
    those cookies looks very crunchy! Lovely.

    about the cake moulds. They are only available online. They are new products and only siliconemoulds.com sells them at the moment. I believe they are not really expensive. DO drop in at their site and have a look see. the moulds are really cute. :)

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  12. so interesting ! i've never heard of taralli until now.

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