Since it’s Christmas the first recipe I wanna show you is this typical Christmas dish called Purcedduzzi…I’ve thought about how to translate this name into English and after days I’ve reached the conclusion that there is no word that can convey the meaning and feeling carried by this Lecce dialect word. That’s why I’ve decided to leave the word as is and just explain what it means to you. Litterally Purcedduzzi means little pigs! Its name comes from the shape of this dish which actually resemble the face of little, cute, baby pigs. Purcedduzzi are small, funny, fried gnocchi with a sweet flavour and an orange aroma, decorated with almonds (the almond tree is the most common in Puglia) and covered with honey. According to local customs, the last Purcedduzzo should be eaten on January 17th in honor of St. Antony the Abbot, Saint and Protector of all animals.
Ingredients (for 6 small plates):
- 4 cups flour (500 gr): 2 1/2 cups white flour (300 g), 1 1/2 cup wheat semolina (200g)
- 1/2 cup sugar ( 100 g sugar)
- 50 gr oil
- 1 lemon
- Orange juice ( from 3 or 4 oranges, depends from how jucy they are)
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup white dry wine
- 1 mandarin
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 500 g honey
- 3 tbsp sugar
- vegetable oil (for frying)
- Calories 250 (calories from fat 25)
- Total fat 3.5 g
- Total Carbohydrates 40 g
- Protein 2.5 g