A typical and very popular sweet from Abruzzo is ferratelle. They take on different names depending on the area: some people call them coperchiole, cancellata, or neola. In my village, San Donato, a small hamlet in the municipality of Tagliacozzo (AQ), they are called “nivole”.
The recipe for this sweet varies from family to family, and it is made using a special iron that, in the past, was part of a bride’s dowry. Ferratelle can be filled in different ways, such as with scrucchiata d’uva (a traditional Abruzzese jam made from Montepulciano wine grapes), or with hazelnut cream. Still, the most commonly used filling during the Christmas period is honey and walnuts.
I am very attached to this recipe because, when I was little, my grandmother Cecilia used to call me to help her with the preparation. By the end of November, she would already be shelling walnuts and other dried fruits in preparation for the Christmas holidays, making various treats. Stuffed “nivole” would never be missing from her table.
We spent the evenings shelling, one by one, all the dried fruit in front of her fireplace. Afterwards, the walnuts were chopped using a food chopper (she had a manual one, how many turns we made!). Then we moved on to preparing the ferratelle, and once they were ready, we could fill them with the stuffing.
Life In Abruzzo members can enjoy these as a special treat to take with you on a walk with a 2-night stay at her family’s beautiful mural bed & breakfast, A Casa di Giulia.
Valentina’s Christmas Walnut & Honey Stuffed Nivole
Ingredients
Ferretelle
- 1 Egg
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Lemon's Grated Zest
- 100 g 00 Flour
- 1 tsp Optional Sambuca or Anise Seeds
Honey & Walnut Stuffing
- 100 g Walnuts
- 2-3 Tbsp Honey
Instructions
- Mix together all the ingdients for the dough, it should be thick enough to roll into balls after being left for 30 minutes
- Once the dough is prepared, proceed with using the ferratella iron. The iron must be heated on the stovetop on both sides, over a medium-low flame.
- Roll the dough into many small balls, about the size of a walnut; otherwise, it will leak out the sides of the iron.
- My grandmother used to say that the cooking time for each side was the time it took to recite an Ave Maria: first on one side, then turn the iron and cook the other side.
- For the filling, once the walnuts are chopped, heat the honey until it becomes runny, then add the walnuts and cook for a few minutes, just until everything combines, stirring constantly.
- Keep the saucepan over a low heat so the mixture stays warm and liquid, fill the ferratelle by spreading the filling over one wafer, then close it with another ferratelle.
- Instead of type 00 flour, you can also use type 0 flour or try with other types of flour. In addition to walnuts, you can also use hazelnuts, almonds, or make a mix. In this case, we used a mix of walnuts and almonds, as shown in the photo.
Author: VALENTINA DI MARCELLO
My name is Valentina, originally I am originally from the small Abruzzese village, San Donato, a hamlet in the municipality of Tagliacozzo (AQ). I have a degree in Economics and Commerce, I work in an accounting firm, but for some years I have also been helping my mother in managing a B&B called "A casa di Giulia" as the village, being just 5 km from Tagliacozzo, is a destination for both summer and winter tourism and a stopover on the 'Camino dei Briganti' (3rd most traveled path in 2023).
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