Bocconotti

Martina Zito

According to a legend that revolves around these sweets, there was a lady in the eighteenth century serving in a house in Abruzzo, who decided to pay homage to her master, a sweet tooth for coffee and chocolate. She prepared a cake that resembled a cup of coffee, making it with a pastry puff and a filling made of coffee and liquid chocolate. Realizing, however, that the interior is too liquid, she decided to add almonds and egg yolk, and a small lid made of the same stuffed pasty. When the master tasted the sweet, he was ecstatic and asked the maid what it was called. Not having yet given it a name, she improvised calling it “bocconotto” (meaning bite) since it could be eaten all in one bite. There are two various of this treat – one sweet and one savory. The sweet variant is always made with shortbread and filled and with either honey, custard, marmalade or chocolate, according to the regional variations. The salty version, however, is made with puff pastry and a filling consisting of a mixture of mushrooms, chicken giblets, ris (sweetbread) and truffles.

Ingredients (for 12 pastries)

Puff pastry:

500 g of “00” flour

200 g of sugar

3 eggs

150 g of lard

One packet of powdered vanilla

16 g of baking powder

Filling:

Jam (or nutella)

Topping:

Powdered sugar

Instructions

First preheat the oven to 180C and make the puff pastry. In a bowl mix the flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder and vanilla. Mix the ingredients with a fork, then add the lard at room temperature and mix first in a bowl and then on a flat surface. Knead the dough until it is smooth and homogenous. Wrap in a saran wrap and let it sit in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes. Then, roll out the dough mixed with flour with a rolling pin to form a thickness of 3 millimeters on a baking sheet. Shape the dough pieces and, using classic cookie molds. After, stuff the inside of the bocconotti with the jam you prefer, then cover them with another piece of puff pastry, making sure to seal the edges well. Bake the pastry in the oven at 180C for about 20 minutes until it is golden. Let it cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.