THE CAGGIONETTI ABRUZZESI

In Abruzzo they have different names depending on the area and even the country where you go: calgionetti, calcionetti, caggionetti, caciun, cauciunill... Around here we can not often understand that we can not agree on the names, but we all agree on the goodness of these sweets to eat in a single bite.

Caggionetti are a typical Abruzzo food product originally from Teramo, but over time they have spread throughout the region and each area has customized them with a different filling: chickpeas, chestnuts, custard, honey and almonds and grape jam. And as if that weren't enough, virtually every family has its own recipe. But you know, the older and more typical the recipes, the more versions there are. And then there are the caggionetti with Nutella. Let's see together how to make the classic caggionetti with grape jam and the most modern ones with Nutella.

Ingredients for the dough of caggionetti 

1 glass of white wine

1 glass of water

1 glass of extra virgin olive oil

Flour to taste

Ingredients for the filling of caggionetti 

200 gr of black grape jam (half a jar)

50 gr of sweet almonds, shelled and chopped

50 g unsweetened cocoa powder

Cooked must to taste

Procedure

Pour the flour and oil into a bowl and mix; Add the wine, water, more flour and knead until you get a firm dough. Once ready, transfer the dough to the pastry board and knead it for a long time without adding additional flour. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes and in the meantime prepare the filling. In a bowl mix the grape jam with the cocoa, ground almonds and cooked must; Do not add too much cooked must otherwise the mixture may become liquid. Roll out the dough into a thin sheet; If you use the machine to roll out the dough, pull it progressively starting from the largest thickness until you get to the penultimate notch. With a teaspoon put the filling on the pastry sheet, fold the dough as if to make ravioletti, cut them and seal them with the appropriate wheel. Fry the calgionetti in oil not too hot: the surface of the calgionetti must have small bubbles, but must not be colored; Drain them with a slotted spoon and place them on absorbent paper. Let them cool and sprinkle with icing sugar or granulated sugar.

The recipe of Abruzzo caggionetti with Nutella

The Abruzzo caggionetti with Nutella are the latest arrivals, but they make everyone agree. I do not know when they were invented, nor who made them first, but I always remember them and I like to think that some grandmother from Abruzzo invented them to make her grandson happy who, despite the wide choice, did not like even one of all those fillings. To make the caggionetti with this more modern filling, the procedure to follow for the dough is the same, just replace the jam filling with a teaspoon of Nutella, move on to cooking and conclude with a nice sprinkling of icing sugar.

Anecdotes about Abruzzo caggionetti 

The only recipe that left me mine is that of caggionetti  with grape jam. This is not just any grape jam, because in Abruzzo there is only one grape jam: the scrucchiata. It is an extra grape jam obtained without the addition of sugar with red grapes of native vines (of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo). The grapes to make the jam are harvested only when they have passed the optimal ripeness and only then the berries are destemmed one by one and crushed by hand to remove the seeds, tightening them between the index finger and thumb. Precisely from this gesture, called crunching for the noise that the grape makes when it is crushed, this typical Abruzzo jam takes its dialectal name.

Immediately after the Immaculate Conception, my grandmother's kitchen was filled with the smell of caggionetti and I understood that finally the holidays had arrived. My grandfather loved those with chestnuts, my father those with chickpeas, I loved those with grape jam and so my grandmother was forced to make them all. Once all the caggionetti were ready, he put them in baskets covered with a linen cloth and placed them in the cupboard where they were kept fresh and crumbly until Christmas. I don't know how long it took to prepare so many, but since I started doing them myself I can assure you that the preparation, although simple, is a bit long.

Note

They are therefore perfect if combined with a glass of raisin wine, a sparkling wine not too sweet or gentian liqueur. They are also excellent to accompany a cup of steaming tea in Christmas snacks.