Pettole may be Puglia’s Christmas tradition in Puglia. But we have a new crossover treat.
On the whole we find that Italy doesn’t integrate foreign cuisine very successfully. We can understand, given the robust tradition of the Italian kitchen.
But one success our friends have thoroughly enjoyed are mincemeat Christmas pies, presented as pasticciotti.
The pasticciotto is a Pugliese pastry, traditionally filled with a lemon flavoured egg custard. Pasticcotti (plural) are typically served at breakfast with an espresso coffee, but are eaten throughout the day. We like them warm.
The short-crust pastry used to make pasticciotti (originally shortened with lard, but now we use butter instead) means it is perfectly suited for adaptation as a Christmas mincemeat pie. Candied peel, dried fruits and nuts, especially almonds, are popular ingredients when it comes to dolce - especially at Christmas which is perfectly summed up by the Italian Christmas classic, panettone.
Mincemeat for the filling is easily made, often using our home grown fruits and home made candied peel.
Merry Christmas.
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