Caggionetti

Caggionetti (or calcionetti, cagionetti, depending on the village) are thin pastry half-moons, made with flour, white wine and oil, filled and fried. The oldest filling is boiled chestnuts or chickpeas, mashed and mixed with chocolate, toasted almonds, cooked must, honey, cinnamon and citrus zest.

They are made in the days before Christmas and eaten warm or cold, dusted with sugar or icing sugar.

For the pastry

• 500 g plain flour
• 100 ml dry white wine
• 100 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Lukewarm water as needed

For the filling

• 500 g boiled, peeled chestnuts (or boiled chickpeas)
• 100 g toasted chopped almonds
• 100 g chopped dark chocolate
• 100 ml cooked must (or 3 tablespoons honey)
• Grated zest of one orange and one lemon
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• A small glass of rum or anise liqueur

For frying and finishing

• Peanut oil
• Caster or icing sugar

1. Mash the chestnuts (or chickpeas) with a potato ricer and mix with the almonds, chocolate, cooked must, zest, cinnamon and liqueur. Cover and leave to rest, ideally until the next day.
2. Knead the flour with the wine, oil, sugar and enough water into a smooth, elastic dough; let it rest 30 minutes covered.
3. Roll the pastry out very thinly, as for ravioli, and cut 8–9 cm discs.
4. Put a teaspoon of filling in the centre of each disc, fold into a half-moon and seal the edges with a fork.
5. Fry a few at a time in hot oil (170 °C) until golden, turning once.
6. Drain on kitchen paper and roll in sugar while still hot, or dust with icing sugar once cold.

• Seal the edges well, pressing out the air: otherwise they open while frying.
• If you prefer, bake them at 180 °C for 20 minutes, brushed with oil: lighter but less fragrant.
• They keep for a few days in a tin.

Photo 1: Christmas caggionetti from the province of Teramo, December 2019; photo 2: Christmas caggionetti from the province of Teramo, December 2019; photo 3: Christmas caggionetti from the province of Teramo, December 2019. Credits: Horcrux (CC BY-SA 4.0); Horcrux (CC BY-SA 4.0); Horcrux (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons, resized; the menu icon is also made from photo 1.

Caggionetti are a peasant festive sweet: chestnuts came from the hill woods, chickpeas from the vegetable garden, cooked must from the grape harvest. The women of the family gathered in the days before Christmas to make large batches.

They were eaten on Christmas Eve and offered to relatives and neighbours. The name changes from village to village, but the half-moon shape and the sweet pulse or chestnut filling stay the same.