Recipe: Pistachio Biscotti (Παξιμαδάκια με Φιστίκια)

Pistachio Biscotti are light, crunchy, and nutty. They’re simple to make and taste wonderful. They’re a great way to use extra egg whites and are low fat. What more can you ask of a cookie?

Last night I brought Pistachio Biscotti to Antonia’s birthday party. More than one person took seconds; the ultimate complement. I wish I had one right now. It’d be the perfect breakfast.

I ferried raw pistachios back to Alaska after my recent trip to Seattle, but in the absence of pistachios, almonds are a fine substitute. The egg whites were left from making a Piemontese homemade pasta specialty called tajarin.

This recipe is so good I might start making tajarin just so I’ll have enough leftover egg whites to make Pistachio Biscotti.

Pistachio Biscotti (Παξιμαδάκια με Φιστίκια)
Makes about 36 cookies.
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, April 1998
The slices are easier to cut when the meringue is fully cool after its first baking.

6 egg whites
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. flour
1 cup shelled raw (not roasted) pistachio nuts or blanched, slivered almonds
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F (325°F convection). Line the bottom and sides of a 9” x 9” baking pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites and salt until they form soft peaks. Gradually beat in the sugar and continue to beat until the meringue holds stiff, glossy peaks. Quickly beat in the vanilla. Sift the flour over the meringue and evenly distribute the pistachios over the flour. Fold in the flour and pistachios gently but thoroughly.

Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth out the top. Bake until the meringue is set and golden on top, about 25 - 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, place it on a rack, and let cool for 15 minutes. Turn the baked meringue out onto the rack, carefully peel off parchment paper, and let cool completely.

Turn the oven down to 300°F (275°F convection).

Using a serrated knife, cut the baked meringue in half. Cut each half crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the slices about 1/2 inch apart on 2 baking sheets and bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, about 20 minutes total, or until the biscotti are pale golden and crisp. Turn off the oven, leave the cookies on the baking sheets and the oven door open, and let cool. Serve or store in an airtight container.

Recipe: Pear and Almond Tart (Τάρτα Αμύγδαλο και Αχλάδια)

My friend Teeny had her own recipe disaster last week. Her problem had the same cause as mine: a restaurant cookbook that hadn’t been adequately vetted for home use.

Teeny attempted a Pear and Almond Tart that looked good on paper. However, the 12” tart had 2 sticks of butter in the crust and 3 sticks of butter in the filling (a little less than a 1/2 stick butter per serving). Since the recipe said to cook it at 300°F for only 40 minutes, the unfortunate tart came out of the oven a partially cooked, slagged down mess.

I decided to come up with an alternate version. I studied the recipe; its flaws were too significant to bother modifying it. I started from scratch with only the concept in mind.

My first attempt looked gorgeous. I was afraid if I cut into it at home, I’d have “an accident” and eat it all myself. Instead, I took it to the sushi restaurant where I was lunching with friends. A whole table of tasters; nothing is better for food in beta testing.

The tart was tasty. Everyone liked it, although one taster thought it a little sweet. I liked the flavor, but the texture of the almond filling was off.

When I got home, I tried again. I made three different variations of the filling, and baked them in separate ramekins. I changed the proportions of eggs, sugar, and flavorings. When the three came out of the oven, the filling using egg whites only was my clear favorite.

I tried a final batch and added a little lemon peel to the egg white filling, and it was exactly what I’d been aiming for. The filling was rich with ground almonds, slightly crunchy on the top, and laced with the full clear flavor of pear.

Pear and Almond Tart is easy to make, easy on the eyes, and easy to enjoy.

Pear and Almond Tart (Τάρτα Αμύγδαλο και Αχλάδια)
Makes one 9” tart – Serves 8
Ground almond meal can be substituted for the whole almonds, and is a good choice for those who don’t have a food processor. Bob’s Red Mill, a brand available in many US supermarkets, sells ground almond meal. Health food stores often carry almond meal in the refrigerator section. If you have leftover almond meal, store it in the refrigerator as it can easily turn rancid. I used unblanched almonds in the tart because almond skins have abundant antioxidants and also taste good; blanched almonds work fine too. Apples may be substituted for the pears in this tart.

Crust:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tsp. finely grated lemon peel
10 Tbsp. unsalted butter (1 stick plus 2 Tbsp.)
1 egg, whisked to combine the white and yolk

Filling:
1 1/2 cups whole unblanched almonds
3/4 cup sugar
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp. pure almond extract
1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon peel

2 large ripe pears
Sugar for sprinkling on top of tart

Make the crust: Mix the flour, powdered sugar, salt, and lemon peel together in a food processor. Cut the butter into 3/4” squares, add to the food processor, and pulse five or six times to break up and distribute the butter. When you are done, the butter pieces should be the size of small lentils. Add the whisked egg and pulse to mix. Pinch together some of the dough to see if it holds together (it should). If it does not, add small amounts of water, pulsing to mix, until the dough holds together when pinched.

Dump the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, press the dough together, and shape it into a flat disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Roll out the dough on a well-floured pastry cloth until it forms a 10 1/2 inch circle. Use the rolling pin to lift the dough and place it over a 9” tart pan with removable bottom. Press the dough firmly into the sides and bottom of the tart pan. Cut the edges of the dough so there is just enough to fold under and cover the sides of the pan with a double layer of dough. Use a fork to prick tiny holes all over the bottom crust.

Press a double layer of aluminum foil onto the dough (this will prevent it from bubbling up when it bakes). Bake the crust for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 5 minutes or until the crust is set and lightly golden. Remove the tart crust from the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Reduce the oven heat to 350°F.

Make the filling: Put the almonds and sugar in the food processor and process until the almonds are very finely ground. Add the egg whites and almond extract and process until the mixture is smooth, scraping down the sides from time to time. Add the lemon peel and pulse to evenly distribute.

Make the tart: Spread the almond filling in the bottom of the pre-baked tart crust.

Peel the pears and cut them in half. Use a melon baller or teaspoon to scoop out the core. Place each pear half flat on a cutting board, and cut crosswise into 1/8” slices. Keep the slices together in the shape of a half pear. Remove the last three slices from the wide end of each half pear and reserve. Lightly push down the slices in each half pear to fan them out, fanning from the narrow end to the wide end.

With a spatula, carefully lift each fan of pear slices and place it on top of the almond filling, with the narrow end at the center, and the four fans of pear slices spaced evenly apart. Put the reserved three slices from each pear half in the spaces between the pear fans. Lightly press the pears into the filling. Sprinkle the pears with granulated sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350°F. Turn the heat down to 300°F and cook for 30 minutes, or until the filling is set and the tart golden.

Serve plain or with scoops of vanilla gelato.
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This is my entry for In the Bag, with the ingredients being pears, lemons, and nuts, hosted by A Slice of Cherry Pie.

Recipe: Pine Nut Cookies (Biscotti con Pignoli)

One of our most memorable Christmases was spent in Italy. We traveled there, as did the rest of my husband’s family, and met up at a hotel in Rome. A week later, we all moved to a rented house called Tinaione in Borgo Stomennano, just outside the village of Monteriggioni (Siena).

I usually go to Italy and gawk at the vegetable and meat markets, but walk away unfulfilled because I don’t have a kitchen to make use of the lovely ingredients. Renting a house with a kitchen made all the difference in the world. For our Christmas dinner, I shopped with abandon at outdoor village markets and at the giant Coop supermarket in nearby Poggibonsi. It was exhilarating.

In Siena, we bought a box of fresh Riccarelli, diamond-shaped traditional Sienese cookies made with ground almonds. We found a bakery selling Biscotti con Pignoli, round cookies with almond paste centers and coated with pine nuts, and also bought them. Both kinds of cookies were addictively delicious.

The next year we were back in Alaska for Christmas. When baking time came around, I couldn’t stop thinking about the Italian pine nut cookies. I found three recipes for them on the Uncle Phaedrus website, and made all three versions.

Of the three recipes, the one that tasted most like the cookies we bought in Siena was made with almond paste, sugar, egg whites, and pine nuts. The cookies were delicious, but a little too sweet. The next year, I reduced the amount of sugar and increased the amount of pine nuts until I was satisfied with the cookies’ taste and texture.

The dough is very sticky. I had a hard time handling it until I began using a scoop to help shape the cookies. With the scoop, you dig up some dough, scrape the scoop flat on the side of the bowl, and release the dough over a shallow bowl of pine nuts. I do this four times, so there are four small wads of dough on the pine nuts (with more than four at a time, the dough pieces roll into each other and stick together). I then roll the dough balls in pine nuts to completely coat them. I prefer wearing disposable food safety gloves for this task because it keeps my hands from getting sticky.

I’ve made my version of Biscotti con Pignoli (Pine Nut Cookies) every Christmas since I worked out the recipe, and they are one of my very favorite cookies. I love their crunchy crust with lightly toasted pine nuts and soft interior rich with the flavor of almonds. I have to give them away quickly so I won't eat too many.

Pine Nut Cookies (Biscotti con Pignoli)
Makes 60 cookies, 2 1/2 inches in diameter
There are four kinds of prepared almond products in Alaska supermarkets: almond paste in cans, almond paste in tubes, marzipan in tubes, and almond filling in cans. I prefer using canned almond paste; almond paste in tubes will work in a pinch, but the cookies aren't as good. Marzipan and canned almond filling will not work for this recipe. If you want to make more than 60 cookies, make the dough in two batches; a double recipe will not fit in an average-sized food processor. I use a 2 tsp. (size 100) scoop to shape the cookies. If you use a 1 Tbsp. scoop (size 60) bake the cookies for 25 – 30 minutes; with the larger scoop, the recipe makes 35 cookies.

1 pound almond paste
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 egg whites
1 1/2 pounds pine nuts (4 3/4 cups)

Preheat the oven to 325°F (300°F in a convection oven).

Put the almond paste and sugar in a food processor and pulse until the almond paste is broken up into small pieces. Add the egg whites and process until the dough is smooth and all the almond paste is fully incorporated. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time. The dough will be soft and sticky. (You can make the dough ahead and refrigerate it. Remove the dough from the refrigerator 30 minutes before you are ready to shape and bake the cookies.)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Put one third of the pine nuts in a shallow bowl. Scoop out the batter (scraping the scoop flat on the side of the bowl) using a 2 tsp. (size 100) scoop. Drop scoopfuls of dough onto the pine nuts, and roll them around until the dough is covered in pine nuts. Add more pine nuts to the bowl, as needed. Place on the lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies until pale brown, but still soft, about 20 – 25 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container. If you need the cookies to last more than a few days, store them in the freezer.