1/4 cup almonds, blanched
3/4 cup almonds, whole unblanched
4 eggs, divided
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 1/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar, white
1 tsp baking soda
1 pinch salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a baking sheet, roast blanched and
unblanched almonds until blanched almonds start to brown, shaking pan
occasionally; 5 to 8 minutes. Remove blanched almonds, place in
blender container and grind until it turns to powder. Set aside.
Meanwhile, return whole almonds to oven 2 to 3 minutes longer. Remove
and chop whole almonds roughly with knife, leaving large chunks. Set
aside. Turn oven down to 300 degrees. Grease baking sheet & dust with
flour; set aside. In a small bowl, beat 3 eggs, vanilla & extract. In
large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and ground
almonds. Make a well in the center and add the eggs, blending to
gradually incor- porate all of flour mixture. You should have a stiff
dough. If it is too stiff to hold together, add a little water. Add
the crushed almonds and knead them evenly into the dough. Divide
dough into 3 portions. Form each into a long log, rounded or slightly
oval (about 1 1/2 inches in dia- meter). It will flatten as it bakes.
Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake 45 - 50 minutes. Remove from
oven and let rest 5 minutes. Turn oven down to 275 degrees. With a
serrated knife, cut logs into 3/4" slices. (NOTE: Unlike slicing a
loaf of bread, straight across its width, cut biscotti on a 45 degree
angle.) Lay slices flat on 2 baking sheets. Return to oven for 20 -
25 minutes, turning slices 1/2 way through baking time. Remove from
oven; allow to cool completely before sealing in containers. They
will stay fresh up to 1 month.
Servings: 6 dozen
Biscotti Di Pratto Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Biscotti; Cookie; Italian; Pasta
The History of Recipes
It is quite possible to follow the history of written cooking instructions way back into history, in truth as far as pharonic Egypt, and maybe even further. Interesting though that is, mostly, these old records were just very basic hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for food preparation.
The truth of the matter is, the most ancient recipe found, according to Professor Solomon Katz, is a collection of clay tablets in ancient Sumerian which recount the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made drinkers feel blissful and exhilarated. Moving on, there were two interesting cookery books published in the 1300s : one book entitled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary entitled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are somewhat misleading tho`, these books have no connection with the indian food that is served today, but rather descriptions of the types of food prepared by the cooks of the upper classes of those days. During the following few centuries, the rich and powerful families of Europe tried to lay on the most extravagent banquests, and as a result chefs and their collection of recipes were greatly in demand. However, it wasn`t until the 19th century that fine cookery and cookery books became really popular. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, dedicated their lives to assembling, trying out, and writing down recipes to help cooks of their time. The revolution that is television brings us celebrity chefs and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. And that pretty much brings us to the present day and the internet revolution, permitting everybody to search through thousands of recipes just like those on sites such as the one you are reading now. |
We hope you enjoy this Biscotti Di Pratto recipe.
