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X Italian Breads and Pizzas
Pellegrino Artuis's stiacciata unta
Pellegrino Artusi's Stiacciata Unta (Yeast dough cake made with pork cracklings, egg yolks and flavored with lemon zest)
Originated from: Italy
Occasion: Any time
Contributed by: stiacciata unta

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Ingredients

Stiacciata Unta (with pork cracklings)
700 grams of bread dough
120 grams lard
100 grams sugar
60 grams pork cracklings*
4 egg yolks
a pinch of salt
orange or lemon zest

Stiacciata Unta (without pork cracklings)
700 grams of bread dough
150 grams lard
100 grams sugar
6 egg yolks
a pinch of salt
orange or lemon zest

Original Italian text
pasta lievita da pane, grammi 700
lardo, grammi 120
zucchero, grammi 100
Siccioli, grammi 60*
rossi d'uovo, n. 4
un pizzico di sale
odore della scorza d'arancio o di limone

*Nowadays Italians generally spell "siccioli" as "ciccioli" (There used to be a variety of spellings, depending on the Italian region in question.). Cookbooks translate "ciccioli" as pork cracklings or greaves but those North Americans who were born in Southern Italy think of "ciccioli" as slices of unprocessed, unsalted, "fresh pork belly slices" sold in Italian butcher shops (the ones sold in American supermarkets are often salted and not right). However, fresh pork belly is hard to bake with. Most Italians brown it prior to using it. Still, because it is meat, and it is being used to flavor dough that is set aside in a warm room for hours and hours prior to baking there is always a risk of spoilage. So processed pork cracklings might actually be a better alternative to real "ciccioli".



Directions

"Stiacciata Con Siccioli" [the proceeding recipe] is better tasting, but this one is easier to make.... The cake was recommended by Antonio Matte of Prato, an honest and industrious man....



Knead the dough gently so that it retains its elasticity.

If you make it the night before and set it aside in a warm place, it should rise by the morning....

If you want to make it without cracklings, add two more egg yolks and 30 extra grams of lard.



Original Italian text

La chiameremo stiacciata unta per distingueria dalla precedente. Se quella ha il merito di riuscire pie grata al gusto, questa ha l'altro di una piu facile esecuzione.

La dose di questa stiacciata e la riceta della torta mantovana mi urono da quel brav uom o gia rammentato, che fu Antonio Mattei di Prato....

Ma veniarmo all ergo... Si lavori moderatamente perche potrebbe perder la forza.

Fatta la sera e lasciata in luogo tiepido si lievita da se; fatta la mattina avra bisogno di tre ore di caldana in tera.

Se la volete senza siccioli aggiungete altri due rossi d'uovo ed altri grammi 30 di lardo.

Meta di questa dose basta per cinque o sei persone.


Notes

The recipe in this entry was taken from "La Scienza in Cucina e L'Arte di Mangiar Bene manuale Pratico per le Famiglie" compilato da Pellegrino Artusi. The book was first published in 1891. Since then many Italian editions have been published. Olga Ragusa's selection of recipes from Pellegrino Artusi's famous cookbook, titled "The Italian Cook Book," can be found in its entirety at www.archive.org (It's free). The University of Toronto recently published a new English edition of Pellegrino Artusi's "Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well"; many of the recipes in this edition can be found at www.books.google.ca.... Photo: Mary Melfi.

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