No matter how you pronounce them, Abruzzo’s traditional Christmas treats Caggionetti are one of the best Christmas treasures around. Chocolate, chestnuts, almonds, rum, lemon zest, cinnamon & honey are just part of the filling, enclosed within a paper-thin white wine fried ravioli casing, who could possibly resist? apart from those allergic to nuts perhaps…
Within our village stories are told about how they used to trade corn, normally an animal food, and food crops with those in Seranica and other chestnut enclaves so that they could enjoy these divine treats over the Christmas period.
They were a rare treat, a Christmas indulgence most commonly first served after Mass on Christmas Eve in bygone times; now you will see them served in Abruzzo from November as soon as the Chestnut sagre commence.
Yes, they are a little bit time-consuming and a 2-stage job for which fillings need to be prepared the day before and left to marinate. I, a self-confessed lazy cook, would even say a little fiddly, but they are worth it! Remember, each family, village town and city will have slightly different interpretations of the recipe, so do experiment with less or more in the filling depending on your own taste preferences, and of course what is available in the cupboard; these are the Bascianella variety:
Caggionetti, Calgionetti, Caggiunitt
Ingredients
- For the Dough
- 500 g 00 Flour
- 2 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 200 ml Dry White Wine
- 1 Pinch of Salt
- For the Filling
- 40 g Honey
- 150 g Toasted Finely Chopped Almonds
- 350 g Chestnuts
- 100 ml Mosto Cotto
- 30 g Candied Peel
- 100 g Grated Dark Chocolate
- 2 freshly brewed Espressi – make sure it is an Italian sized espresso cup
- Grated Zest from 1 Lemon
- 1 Shot glass of Anejo or other good quality Golden Rum
- 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- Oil for frying groundnut works really well
- Sugar and Cinnamon to decorate.
Instructions
- In a saucepan add honey or mosto cotto, cinnamon, chocolate and gently heat. Add toasted almonds, zest and candy peel and sugar, add the chestnuts to the mixture and mix well, cooking for another 2 minutes on a very low heat.
- Remove from heat and pour into a large bowl add rum and coffee. Mix well, cover with a tea towel and leave overnight for the flavours to marinate.
- Add flour and the dry dough ingredients into a large bowl, add the oil & wine and work into a firm dough, knead it for about 3 minutes to make sure it really is the right consistency... durum (hard wheat) flour takes a while to absorb liquids. You may need to add more flour or some cold water accordingly.
- Roll the pasta out very thinly. If you have a pasta machine, run it through into strips.
- On these pasta strips add a heaped teaspoon of your chocolate, chestnut mixture at intervals. It will be a sandwich in affect as you place another strip on top.
- If you have a pasta cutter cut between each to form squares; if not use a glass to cut the sandwich and pinch the edges together.
- Fry these parcels in hot ground-nut oil – don’t let them brown! It’s very quick process, they will puff up and be crisp when done. Don’t put too many into the pan at once or you’ll reduce the heat and they won’t puff.
- When cooked drain on kitchen paper.
- When cool sprinkle with icing sugar and cinnamon according to taste.
[…] in Gascony), I start to scour the web for this chick pea/chocolate combo and find it here, here and here in all its Abruzzese quirky glory. Petronella DiCarlo DiPietrantonio of Roccamorice, Abruzzo […]
My father Vito DiCarlo from Terremo Abruzzo used to make these cookies at Christmas. The recipe was made each year. More than 50 years later my cousins still talk of them.
Buon Natale, Amica