Holidays 2004:

From Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day, Italians celebrate with food and drink – a true Bacchanalia! Each region and each household has its own rituals and specialties.

I’ve attached my favorite recipes for the traditional baccala, the more modern gamberi or the classic spaghetti alle alici to add to your Christmas Eve seafood repast. This is when everyone eats fish to purify the body and prepare it for feasting.

Throughout this festive time there are always irresistible sweets. I hope you enjoy the panforte and struffoli to nibble during your family gatherings or to give as gifts. The nuts symbolize abundance and fertility, and honey is a talisman that the coming year may be sweet.

And for New Year’s Day the lenticchie are sure to bring you prosperity in the coming year. Oh – and pop open (and enjoy) a bottle of Champagne or Prosecco so that the noise will drive away evil spirits. And do eat lots of oranges - they’re said to promise love.

P.S. In reading the recipes, please note that OO is my quick way of typing olive oil – extra virgin, of course!

Baccala or salt cod is one of the most important Christmas Eve dishes. It has as many variations as there are cities in Sicily. Although basically Sicilian influenced, this dish has close similarities in all the southern regions - Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, and Apulia.

1 lb. boneless, skinless salt cod,* preferably a thick, center piece
(see notes below as to how to buy and prepare for cooking)
6 T. OO
1 tsp. oregano
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 C. tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped
1/3 C. golden raisins, plumped in warm water and drained dry
1/3 C. pignoli nuts, toasted golden in a dry skillet
1 T. capers, drained
1 C. Gaeta or Alfonso olives, pitted
pinch crushed hot pepper flakes
S & P
1/4 C. parsley, chopped

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Cut the cod into approximately 2-inch square pieces. Put 2 T. of OO to cover the bottom of a deep baking dish and in it, arrange a single layer of cod squares; rub with 1/2 tsp. oregano and a few grindings of black pepper. Drizzle the cod with another 2 T. of OO.

Heat the remaining 2 T. OO in a large heavy skillet. Add the garlic and sauté over low heat until soft. Stir in the tomatoes and heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Add the raisins, pignoli, capers, olives, remaining oregano, a pinch of hot pepper flakes, and salt to taste. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering, bake the cod in the top of the oven for 8 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 375°F. Spoon the sauce over the cod and bake on the middle rack for 20-30 minutes. Correct the seasoning. Sprinkle with parsley before serving. Serve hot or room temperature with crusty bread or boiled potatoes.


* NOTES ON BACCALA

Baccala is fresh cod that is salt-cured and preserved in wood. Do not confuse it with stoccafiso (stockfish), which is air-dried rather than salted.

Baccala can be purchased with the bone or boned. I recommend buying boned cod fillets. Look for thick, smooth, supple pieces that do not give off flakes of salt when gently pressed. Allow 4-5 ounces per person (1 lb. dried boneless, skinless cod yields about 1 1/2 lbs. of soaked fish).

Because varying methods of curing produce different salt levels, guidelines for soaking the dried fish are only approximate.

To ready fish for cooking, place it in cold water in a bowl. Change the water 3 -5 times during the soaking period, or until the fish no longer tastes salty. Skinless fillets will soak in as little as 2 hours if the fish is shredded. Large pieces take about 12 hours and whole boneless sides, about 24 hours. Even in the same batch, soaking times may vary because of differences in thickness among individual pieces. The best way to tell when the fish is ready to be rinsed, drained, and refrigerated is to nibble a piece.

Refreshed salt cod should be treated like fresh fish. No fish takes kindly to overcooking, and cod becomes tough and cottony when so abused. It should never be boiled, but poaching, frying, roasting, braising, and baking all produce good results.

Although this flavorful Sicilian shrimp dish is traditionally made with wild fennel, we can approximate the intense flavor with fresh fennel bulb, fennel seeds and a splash of anisette or Pernod.

1 fennel bulb with feathery top
1/4 C. OO
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 lbs. whole shrimp* or peeled and deveined shrimp
zest of 2 oranges
2 T. fennel seeds
1/2 C. white wine
juice of 1 lemon
juice of 1 orange (blood orange if available)
splash of anisette (sweet) or Pernod (dry)
S & P

Cut the feathery fronds from the fennel and reserve. Finely chop 1 C. of the frond to use in the recipe and the remaining for garnish. Cut the fennel in half, remove the core and slice the bulb into thin lengthwise slices.

Heat the OO in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the sliced fennel and cook until somewhat softened. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Add the shrimp, orange zest, fennel seeds, and the reserved fennel fronds and cook until the shrimp begin to turn pink. Add the white wine, lemon and orange juice and a splash of anisette/Pernod and cook for 1 minute over high heat. Season with S & P.

Serve hot in a platter garnished with fennel fronds and orange slices.

*Whole shrimp still in their shells with heads attached may be found fresh or frozen in Chinese markets.

This specialty of Siena is a famous Christmas treat. Panforte (strong bread) is not a bread but a firm, chewy sweet made by baking a mixture of nuts, candied fruit, honey and medieval spices. Originally these sweets were sold in apothecaries, where spices were sold, as they were considered to be pharmaceuticals. In Siena the famous pasticceria “Nannini” makes panforte in a light and dark scuro version.

Because of its rich and intense flavor it should be served like candy- cut into very thin wedges and served with after-dinner coffee or Asti Spumante.

Of course you can come into the neighborhood to buy an imported panforte, but send a little love from your kitchen by making one from scratch.

1 C. hazelnuts, blanched and lightly toasted
1 C. almonds, blanched and lightly toasted
1 C. candied citron, chopped
1/2 C. candied orange peel, chopped
1/2 C. candied lemon peel, chopped
3/4 C. flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground white pepper
3/4 C. sugar
3/4 C. honey
confectioners edible wafer paper (rice paper)* or parchment paper
unsalted butter for the pan
2 T. flour mixed with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
confectioners sugar

Prepare a 9-inch springform pan by lining the bottom with confectioners edible wafer paper. Butter the paper and the sides of the pan and flour with the mixture of flour and cinnamon. Reserve some of this flour mixture to sift over the panforte before baking.

Preheat the oven to 300°F.

Coarsely chop the hazelnuts and half of the almonds. In a large bowl, mix the candied fruits with the flour and assorted spices.

Combine the sugar and honey in a saucepan and slowly bring it to a boil. Simmer for about 2 minutes without stirring after it comes to a boil. Add the sugar syrup to the candied fruits and flour, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until well blended. Immediately scrape the dough into the prepared pan. Wet the palm of one hand and pat the mixture into the pan, making the top as flat as possible. Sift some of the reserved flour/cinnamon mixture over the panforte through a small fine strainer.

Bake at 300°F. for about 30-40 minutes. Check occasionally to see that the dough does not come to a boil. It might seem undercooked, but will harden as it cools. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then with the tip of a small knife, loosen the panforte and remove the side of the pan. Slide a knife or spatula under the panforte to loosen it from the bottom of the pan and slide it onto a rack to cool. If parchment paper was used, invert and peel it off after the panforte has cooled. Brush the flour and cinnamon away from the top of the panforte and sprinkle with confectioners sugar before serving. Serve in very thin wedges.

Panforte will stay fresh for one month, tightly covered at room temperature.

Panforte scuro (dark version): Follow the same recipe as for light panforte, but decrease the citron to 1/2 C. and add 1/2 C. dried figs and 1-2 T. bitter cocoa powder.

*Confectioners edible wafer paper (rice paper) can be purchased at Dairy Fresh Candies, 57 Salem St, Boston 02113. Tel 617-742-2639 or 1-800-336-5536.

This is one of the most simple but ancient pasta preparations, served often in Sicily and always at the Christmas Eve feast. It is important to use only the best anchovies – Sicilian anchovies packed in salt or in glass jars with olive oil.

24 black Greek style olives, pitted
6 flat anchovy fillets
1/3 C. OO
5 garlic cloves, lightly smashed and peeled
1 dry red hot pepper, chopped
1 lb. spaghettini pasta
1/4 C. toasted bread crumbs

Prepare the bread crumbs using good stale bread ground into fine crumbs. Dry them on a cookie sheet and baking them in a 375°F oven for 15 minutes or toasting them briefly in a dry cast-iron skillet.

In a food processor, chop the olives together with the anchovies to a very fine, pulpy consistency.

Combine 1/4 C. of the OO with the garlic and some of the chopped pepper in a small saucepan over moderately high heat; use no more hot pepper than is necessary to give the sauce a lightly piquant accent. Stir the garlic from time to time. When it becomes nut brown in color, remove it from the pan, discard the garlic and turn off the heat.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water just until al dente. Drain the pasta, transfer to a bowl, and toss with the remaining 1 T. plus 1 tsp. OO.

Turn the heat down to moderately low under the saucepan with the seasoned OO. Stir in the chopped anchovies and olives and cook for just a few seconds; pour the contents of the pan over the pasta and toss thoroughly. Add the bread crumbs, toss and serve at once.

Adapted from -FOOD & WINE- November 1994 - "Spaghettini with anchovies" by Marcella Hazan

Italians have always eaten a special meal for luck on New Year’s Day. Lentils - coin shaped - are said to ensure financial security in the New Year. In the North, particularly the region of Emilia-Romagna, lentils are traditionally served with delicately spiced cotechino* sausage. Make this recipe with less liquid to accompany cotechino.

3/4 lb. dried lentils
1/8 lb. Pancetta, cut into small dice
2T. OO
mixed herbs: bay leaf, marjoram, rosemary, thyme
1 C. tomato sauce
1 large onion, chopped and sautéed in butter or OO
S & P
approx. 20 roasted chestnuts, peeled and coarsely chopped

Soak the lentils in lukewarm water for 24 hours. The next day, bring them to a boil in lightly salted water with a few bay leaves. Once they have come to a boil, turn down to a simmer and cook until tender. DO NOT OVERCOOK or they will turn into lentil puree.

Separately, in a sauté pan, cook the pancetta in the OO over medium heat until it has rendered some of its fat. Add the herbs, tomato sauce, onions and chestnuts. Season to taste with the S & P and add this mixture to the pot of cooked lentils. Simmer for a few minutes longer, stirring well. For the soup, there should be a little over one liter of liquid left with the lentils.

Ladle the soup into heated bowls garnished with a slice of bread, plain or fried in OO.

* Cotechino is a fat, spicy, fresh pork sausage made with ground pork rind (cotiche). It is also sliced like coins as a promise of prosperity in the New Year. Cotechino can be purchased at Salumeria Italiana, 151 Richmond St, Boston, MA Tel-617-523-8743 or 1-800-400-5916.

Although this recipe has many variations throughout the Mediterranean, this very popular Christmas sweet reflects the Neapolitan tendency to extravagance where desserts are concerned. These addictive little balls of pastry are deep fried, dipped in honey, tossed with candied fruits and slivered almonds, then shaped into a tall mound or a ring, like a Christmas tree or wreath.

4 C. flour
1 C. sugar
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
4 T. butter/olive oil/lard
2 T. Brandy/Strega/orange-flavored liquor/limoncello
grated peel of 2 small lemons or 1 lemon and 1 orange

1/4 C. diced candied citron
1/4 C. candied orange peel
1/4 C. toasted slivered almonds
4 red candied cherries, halved

4 C. canola oil for frying

1 1/4 C. honey
1 C. water
1 C. sugar

Arrange the flour in a mound on a pasta board and make a well in the center. In the center of the well put the sugar, salt, eggs, yolks, butter, the grated lemon peel and liquor. Mix all the center ingredients together with a wooden spoon or a fork. Gradually incorporate the flour from the inside rim of the well little by little with the other ingredients (as though you were making pasta). When all of the flour has been incorporated, start kneading the dough with the palms of your hands, using a folding motion, until the dough is smooth and homogenous. Cover it with plastic wrap and let rest for about 2 hours.

Or, in a mixer bowl, combine the flour, eggs, yolks, butter, grated citrus peel and liquor. Using the paddle attachment mix until the dough comes together. Change to the dough hook and knead about 5 minutes on medium speed until a firm dough has been formed. Cover and rest as above.

In the meantime, dice the citron, sliver the candied orange peel, toast and sliver the almonds, and halve the cherries.

Cut the dough into several pieces and roll each piece into a thin, long rope. Cut the rope into 1/4 inch cross-wise pieces. Roll each piece between the palms to form small balls about the size of large chickpeas. Keep unrolled portions of dough covered to prevent drying.

Heat the oil in a deep fat fryer or 12-14 inch skillet with at least 3 inch sides to 375°F. Drop the struffoli in to cover about half of the surface of the oil and cook until golden, about 1 minute. They will puff up while cooking. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a dish lined with paper towels.

After the struffoli have been fried, prepare the honey syrup. Place the honey, water, and sugar in a saucepan on medium heat. Cook until the mixture becomes golden in color and if a few drops are put in a glass of cool water, a soft ball will be formed.

To the honey syrup add the struffoli, the citron, the orange peel and the almonds. Stir gently to thoroughly coat the dough balls. Let cool about 10 minutes.

Arrange the struffoli into a tall mound or a ring. Decorate with the cherry halves. Let rest for about 2 hours before serving. Keep them out on the table for nibbling at will. They will keep for at least a week – if not devoured by then.