L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES E aster is around the cor- ner and there are plen- ty of Italian traditions that go with it. I would say that for Italians, Easter is the second most popular holiday of the year next to Christmas. In my mom's Cal- abrian hometown, the festivities include a special mass and a pro- cession through the streets with a huge statue of the Virgin Mary proudly carried on the shoulders of a group of townsmen. The streets are absolutely packed with people watching and following the procession. In my father's hometown, which is only 10 min- utes away, they have similar tra- ditions but being a seaside town their procession leads them to the Mediterranean where they walk the statue of their beloved Mother Mary into the water – I don't know how they haven't dropped her in yet! After the procession, families head home to enjoy a feast together. Even better than Easter Sun- day though is one of the greatest days of the year, Pasquetta. For many young people this is the day that they will hang out with friends. As the saying in Italian goes: "Natale con i tuoi, Pasquet- ta con chi vuoi" - Christmas with your family, Easter Monday with whoever you want. Of course, it rhymes and sounds better in Ital- ian! It is a very relaxed and fun day and whenever I was in Italy it was spent with family at my Nonno's farm. Kids running around under mandarin and olive trees, women cooking and talking, men playing cards and of course building kites. Yes, building kites! A long stand- ing tradition that back in the day had its own town competition my Nonno apparently won frequent- ly. He was a master and the cou- ple of Easters I spent there afford- ed me a few kite building lessons. As most holidays go, Easter too has special traditional sweets associated with it. I didn't have the luxury of having my Nonno and Nonna here with us in Cana- da, but fortunately my mother kept all their stories alive and would talk about the old days as we made these traditional Easter bread and cookies. When she was young, her mother would make them in all sorts of designs, first making patterns out of paper for dolls and baskets and then cutting them out of the dough. There were 9 kids in her family and whenever she told us these stories I could vividly picture the event in my mind – a bit chaotic I'm sure! Now it's our kids' turn and Nonna makes sure that every year they experience making these Easter bread treats with her. There are two recipes here. My family's traditional Easter treat is a cookie-type dough and the second recipe is a sweet bread which my mom also made on occasion. These are a couple of easy shapes for you to get started with, but feel free to try others. The eggs are placed raw in the dough and baked in the oven to the likes of a hard boiled egg. You can dye or decorate them using food-safe dyes, egg wash them so they become shiny, or leave them plain like we have in some of these pictures. Enjoy and let us know how yours turn out! Easter Cookie Ingredients ● 10 eggs ● 3 cups of sugar ● 1 1/2 cups of milk ● Juice and zest of 1 lemon ● 12 cups of flour plus more as needed ● 1 packet of vanilla powder ● 5 teaspoons baking powder ● 2 1/4 cups of softened yel- low shortening ● 1 egg to bake into the centre of the bread ● 1 tablespoon water Instructions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F 2. Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper 3. Beat the eggs and sugar together 4. Add the milk, lemon juice and rind to egg and sugar mixture 5. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients and stir 6. Cut shortening into the dry ingredients and mix with hands 7. Add wet ingredients to dry mixture 8. Mix together to form a sticky dough 9. Knead dough on a flat sur- face. Add flour until dough no longer sticks to your hands 10. Knead until the dough is smooth 11. Wrap in plastic wrap. 12. Cut small pieces at a time to work with 13. Roll long strips to twist and form into shapes or cut out shapes with a cutter 14. Place cookies onto pre- pared baking sheet 15. Place raw eggs into the centre of your shape 16. Whisk egg and water together for an egg wash and lightly brush the cookies 17. Bake until golden in color Optional Try adding 1 tablespoon of anisette or substitute the juice and zest of an orange instead of lemon Easter Sweet Bread Ingredients ● 1 1/4 cups milk ● 1/3 cup butter ● 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast ● 1/8 teaspoon salt ● 1/2 cup sugar ● 2 beaten eggs ● 3 1/2 – 4 cups all purpose flour ● 6 eggs for embedding in dough ● 1 egg +1 teaspoon water for egg-wash Instructions 1. In a small pot, warm milk and butter until butter is melted. You do not want the milk hot. 2. Combine yeast, salt, 2 beat- en eggs, and sugar. 3. Add the warm milk and but- ter mixture. 4. Add half the flour and knead or beat with a dough hook until smooth. 5. Add remaining flour slowly until the dough does not stick to your hands anymore. 6. Cover and let rise until dou- bled in size. 7. Punch air out and divide into 12 pieces for individual breads or 6 for larger breads. 8. Roll the pieces into roughly 13-14 inch ropes. 9. Twist to form a braid, bring ends together and pinch to make a ring. 10. Place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and let rise again until doubled. 11. Brush dough with egg wash. 12. Place a raw egg in the mid- dle of each ring or embed them in the braid twists. 13.Bake at 350 degrees F until lightly browned on top. Campanari di Pasqua are a traditional cookie in many parts of Italy, characterised by the presence at their centre of a real, full egg. Photo: Nonna's Way Preparing Campanari can be a beautiful experience to bring together a family's many generations. Photo: Nonna's Way ANNA ROMANO & ANGELA DESALVO Easter Cookies - Campanari di Pasqua

• Cover