In December, holiday breads and desserts flood bakery shelves. Panettone may be the most popular Italian pastry served during the holiday season but I prefer homemade Christmas cookies especially nutty roccocò, chocolate covered mostaccioli and buccellati (Sicilian fig-filled cookies). Baked in a wreath ring or as cookies, the combination of figs, dates, nuts, raisins and sometimes candied fruits is simply delicious.
In the past, baked goods packed with dried fruits popped up around harvest time as cooler temperatures approached. Filled with figs, buccellati represented a successful and prosperous harvest. Traditionally buccellati appeared at family celebrations including weddings and christenings. Today, despite pastry chefs making it year round, buccellati are linked to Christmas festivities.
I cherish and miss listening to Christmas tunes while baking and eating cookies with mom in the days leading up to December 25. She will be baking away in Boston and I’ll do the same in Rome. There is no single recipe for these Christmas delights. Some recipes use dessert wine. All recipes use nuts, mostly almonds. Mom uses her plum jam.
Ingredients (5 dozen cookies)
Ingredients for the dough
- 4 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup
- 1 stick and 1 ounce of butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon baking powder (in Sicily bakers’ ammonia or hartshorn is often used. If you find it, it will leave the cookies more crisp).
Ingredients for the filling
- 1/2 cup home made or high quality jam (we use black plum jam but choose your favorite, strawberry and cherry work well too)
- 6 ounces dried figs
- 3/4 cup of vino cotto
- 2 tablespoons pistachios
- 2 tablespoons almonds
- 1/2 cup walnuts
Ingredients for the icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- juice of 1 to 2 lemons
- pistacchio granules for decorating
The filling
Finely chop the dried figs. Put the figs in a saucepan. Chop the nuts by hand or with a food processor.
Add the jam, vino cotto and nuts (pistachios, almonds, walnuts). Stir frequently over low heat until the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 350° F before making the dough.
The dough
Pile the flour in a mound on a marble or wooden surface. Make a well in the center of the mound. Add the sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla and baking powder or ammonium bicarbonate if you’re using it to the well. Mix with your hands incorporating the flour into the well little by little, until the dough forms. If the dough is too dry add a tablespoon of milk moisten it. The dough should be easy to work with and not too sticky.
Divide the dough into quarters. Roll one quarter of the dough into a rectangle. The dough should be about 1/4 inch thick. Use a spoon to spread the filling along the bottom third of the dough. 
Fold the bottom over the filling. Fold the top over, enclosing the filling within the dough. It will look like a log. Turn the log over (seam-side down) and press gently to flatten it. Cut into 2-3 inch pieces. Gently shape each cookie into a moon shape. 
Make 3 slits on the rounded side of each buccellato. Place the cookies on a unlined baking sheet. Repeat until dough and filling are finished.
Bake at 350°F for approximately 25 minutes, until golden brown. Place cookies on a rack to cool.
The icing
Place pistachios in a food processor and pulse or chop by hand. 
In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar with the juice from 1 – 2 lemons. Mix until smooth. When the cookies are cool, brush with the icing and sprinkle with pistachio granules. I ice one-half of the cookies and leave the others unfrosted. Mix it up. 
Happy Holidays!
My love for Sicily and city of Siracusa hasn’t waned. Visiting her is like slipping on my well-worn leather trench coat. Crunchy sea air, dark coffee fumes, baking buttery maritozzo and memories wash over me. 
I walk through the 
At Bar del Ponte Cristina, the baristas pull luscious, aromatic cappuccinos, caffès and caffè lattes. Trays of freshly baked cornetti, simple and chocolate filled brioche, bombe fritte (donuts), and sfgolie alla ricotta (fried pockets filled with ricotta cheese) fill the glass shelves. The maritozzo con uvetta is my favorite. The boat shaped pastry is made with sweet brioche dough speckled with raisins and lightly topped with sugar crystals. 
Maritozzo originated in Roman where raisin, pine nut and candied fruit studded maritozzi quaresimali were served during the Lent. In Rome today, plain maritozzo sliced open and filled with whipped sweetened cream are more common. I prefer the Sicilian version served alongside a cappuccino while sitting at an outdoor table looking at the Temple of Apollo and listening to Sicilian chatter. Buon colazione!
A friend asked me today, why Sicily? The first answer is because my paternal grandparents were born in Augusta, Sicily. They lived there for more 35 years. I was connected to Sicily well before I ever stepped foot on her beautiful soil. My maternal grandparents are from the region of Campania which meant I grew up with a mishmash of Sicilian and Neapolitan culinary traditions, stories and superstitions. 
Since then I’ve visited Sicily countless times with family, friends, and clients. It feels like home. Although the authenticity of the Vucciria market has declined, the Capo and Ballarò markets are a short walk away as are pastry shops serving cannoli, iris, and marzipan sweets as well as traditional and modern restaurants, pizzerias and wine bars. 
I wake up often with food memories dancing in my head. Visions of pizza dough stuffed with sausages and broccoli, peppers and onions, and escarole braised with black olives, anchovies and smoky olives. Mom filled pizza dough with ingredients that she had in the house. Nothing went to waste. I fought for the corner pieces, in love with the yeasty pillowy golden crust.
While the dough is rising make the filling.
Let the filling cool while you roll out the dough. 
Grease the pan with olive oil. I use a medium size square pizza pan. Divide the dough in two sections. Use a bit more dough for the base of the pizza letting it flow over the sides of the pizza pan. Roll out the bottom half of the dough in the shape of the pan. Place in well oiled pan, add filling; covering the dough evenly. Top with the remaining dough. Seal the edges by pinching the dough together with your fingers or press together with fork tines. In a pinch use pre-made dough.
Cover and set aside in a warm place for an hour. Place in preheated oven at 400° for 40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. It’s mouthwatering served warm or cold.
In 2005, she first set her feet on Mt. Etna. She fell in love with the terraced vineyards, breathtaking Etna, and the indigenous grape varieties of Nerello Mascalese and Carricante. In 2008, she bought two parcels of fruit on Etna and she produced 600 bottles of 