This delicious recipe for Sultana Fiadoni is from Giulia who runs a B&B in the picturesque village of San Donato. The village sits on Mount La Forcella overlooking Tagliacozzo, the 7th stop if you are doing Il Cammino dei Briganti, a 7-day independent walk that weaves through Marsica and Lazio.
Fiadoni mark the arrival of Spring and Easter and you’ll find them on at many a family picnic or grill feast on Pasquetta (Easter Monday). Each family and area in Abruzzo uses slightly different cheeses for their fiadoni, in Giulia’s case, the predominant cheese is Rigatino Abruzzese, a semi-hard cheese and a mix of cow and sheep milk. In San Donato, they are eaten as part of the celebrations for their ‘Walk of Peace’ known as ‘Processione delle tre Madonne‘ on Easter Monday that dates back to 1639.
San Donato Fiadoni
Ingredients
For the Pastry
- 400 g Flour
- 50 g Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 100 g White Wine
- 3 Eggs
- Large pinch Salt
For the Filling
- 600 g Grated Rigatino Abruzzese (or a mature cow cheese)
- 100 g Grated Pecorino Abruzzese (If unavailable Romano will suffice)
- 330 g Parmesan (24/36 mesi)
- 3-5 Medium Eggs
- 50 g Sultanas rehydrated in water, drained and dried
Instructions
- To Make the Dough
- Pour the flour onto the pastry board, make a well and add the whole eggs, extra virgin olive oil, white wine and a pinch of salt and work together with a fork.
- Pull together into a rough ball, it should be soft but not sticky. Knead well to create a smooth, homogeneous ball and leave it to rest for half an hour. Add extra flour if required.
To Make the Filling
- Grate cheeses together and adjust according to your preferred taste,
- Add eggs and sultanas and mix well, the filling should not be sticky, roll into balls
- Turn oven on to 200 C.
Make the Pastries
- Take the dough a little at a time, roll it out thinly with a rolling pin or using a pasta machine.
- Make a thin rectangular sheet and place the cheese balls on the pastry, each far from the other so that you can close the fiadone. The procedure is similar to when making ravioli.
- Brush the top part of the ravioli with a beaten egg yolk, make a small hole with scissors or a knife in the top part to act as a steam hole. Bake at 200 C in a fan over for 20 minutes. They are done when they are golden.
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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).
