This document provides recipes for traditional Italian dishes associated with Carnival and Easter holidays. It includes recipes for cavatelli pasta with pork sauce, taccozze pasta and beans, sagne pasta and chickpeas, carnival sciadone pie, chiacchiere pastries, graffe pastries, doughnuts, grilled lamb ribs, casce e ova lamb dish, pastiera pastry with rice, pastiera pastry with wheat, and instructions for cooking your own wheat. The document shares some of the recipes of Italy's Molise region to celebrate special occasions with family and friends through food.

1. Carnival
&
Easter
Cookbook
by 3C-F
Istituto Comprensivo ‘L.Montini’
Campobasso - Italy
2007-2008

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover page ……………………………………………………………..... 1
Table of contents ………………………………………………………… 2
Ricette per occasioni speciali / Special occasion recepies ………. 3
CARNEVALE / CARNIVAL ………………………………………….... 4
Cavatelli con ragù di maiale / Cavatelli pasta with pork sauce ….. 5
Taccozze e fagioli / Taccozze and beans …………………………….. 6
Sagne e ceci / Sagne and chickpeas …………………………………. 7
Sciadone di Carnevale / Carnival sciadone …………………………. 8
Chiacchiere / Chatters ................................................................... 9
Graffe / Krapfen …………………………………………………………. 10
Bomboloni / Doughnuts ………………………………………………… 11
PASQUA / EASTER ……………………………………………………... 12
Costolette di Agnello / Grilled lamb ribs ...................................... 13
Agnello casce e ova / Casce e ova lamb …………………………… 14
Pastiera con il riso / Pastiera with rice ………………………………. 15
Pastiera con il riso / Pastiera with rice ………………………………. 16
Come preparare il grano / Cooking your own wheat ……………… 17
Colomba di Pasqua / Easter dove …………………………………….. 18
Pigna / Easter panettone ……………………………………………….. 19
Fiadone salato / Savoury fiadone …………………………………….. 20
Fiadone dolce / Sweet fiadone ………………………………………… 21
RICETTA PER L’AMICIZIA / RECIPE FOR FRIENDSHIP ……. 22

3. Ricette per occasioni speciali
Special occasion recipes
Carnival and Easter are important events you can
spend with your relatives and friends. How can they
resist to traditional dishes you can prepare at home!
Our dishes are simple, poor and natural. Sheep farming and
agriculture are at the basis of typical Molise cookery. Pasta, grains,
pork and lamb meat, vegetables and cheese dominate in the regional
specialities.
We want to share with you some of the recipes of feast
days, of our tradition, of our area and of our past.
BUON APPETITO!!!

4. CARNEVALE
CARNIVAL
Carnival sweets appear in most local shops
and bars in Italy in January and February.
They are known with different names
which vary from region to region: zeppole,
tortelli, struffoli, frappe, chiacchiere, cenci
and many others. They are similar in the
preparation and ingredients but every
family follows its own recipe.
The main variations, according to the
geographical regions, lie in the form that is
given to the batter, cut into small balls or
rolled out thinly with a rolling pin and then
cut into rectangles or ribbons and in the use
of different liqueurs to add to the basic
batter.
These traditional sweets can be empty or
filled with jam, pastry cream or candied
fruit or fresh ricotta. Most of them are fried
and covered with powdered sugar, honey
or chocolate…

5. Cavatelli con ragù di maiale
Cavatelli pasta with pork sauce
Ingredients:
For cavatelli:
1 kg. of potatoes,
300 gr. flour.
For ragù:
500 gr. pork pulp,
1 piece of meat sausage,
300 gr. pork ribs,
½ glass of oil,
1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, chilli,
1 ½litres of tomato sauce,
salt.
Preparation:
Prepare the sauce. Brown chopped garlic, onion, chilli and meats. Add wine.
When evaporated, add tomato sauce. Cook on medium heat for about two
hours turning meat often.
Boil the potatoes. Peel and pass the still hot potatoes through a potato masher.
When the mashed potato is still warm, add flour and mix together on a floured
wooden surface to form a homogeneous and soft dough. Divide into pieces and
roll them in order to obtain long sausages like rolls of about 1 cm in diameter.
Cut them into cubes, sprinkle them with flour and press them with the tip of the
middle finger. Continue until all the dough is finished.
In a large pan bring water to boil, salt, add cavatelli and stir immediately. Cook
for a few minutes, drain and season with sauce and grated pecorino cheese.

6. Taccozze e fagioli
Taccozze and beans
Ingredients:
For the sauce:
250 gr. beans,
500 gr. tomatoes,
50 gr. olive oil,
50 gr. bacon fat,
salt.
For the pasta:
900 gr. semolina flour,
water,
1 teaspoon olive oil.
Preparation:
Cook the beans on a low flame together with some pork rind and a ham bone.
Apart prepare a mix of onion, garlic, carrots and celery and then add the beans
previously cooked. Stir well and add to the taccozze, short pasta shaped like a
lozenge.
To make taccozze mix semolina flour, water and oil to obtain a homogenous
dough (some cooks add eggs to make the pasta). Knead it on a wooden surface
for a few minutes. Roll out the dough into sheets and cut into strips. Then cut the
strips into diamond-shaped pieces of about 2-3 cm in length.
Molise produces quantities of dried pasta but in many homes women still often roll the dough by
hand. Specialities include taccozze also called tacconelle, sagne (lasagne), laganelle (tagliatelle),
crejoli (similar to the Abruzzi’s maccheroni alla chitarra) and recchietelle (orecchiette).

7. Sagne e ceci
Sagne and chickpeas
Ingredients:
200 gr. of dried chickpeas,
a glass of olive oil,
100 gr. of fat ham,
chilly pepper,
parsley,
celery, rosemary, onion, garlic,
salt,
400 gr. of homemade sagne.
Preparation:
Clean up the chickpeas, wash and put them in abundant water with a dust of salt
and of bicarbonate for twelve hours. Passed this time, rinse them out and cook on
moderate fire in a pan covered with hot water. Join the rosemary and add some
ladles of hot water, if the cooking water had to dry up too much.
At the same time you can prepare the dressing: in a little saucepan let the ham fat
sweetly brown with sliced onion, garlic and parsley. Pour this condiment on
chickpeas together with the chilly pepper and let them savour for some minutes.
Boil the sagnette in abundant salted water. Remove them, strain and pour them in
the saucepan where the chickpeas are cooking and let them flavour.
You can add 500gr. of peeled tomatoes to the ingredients of the condiment.
The sagne, prepared with the ingredients and the procedure indicated in the recipe Taccozze e
fagioli, are kneaded without eggs and cut to the size of a little finger.

8. Sciadone di Carnevale
Carnival sciadone
Ingredients:
For the pastry:
500 gr. of flour for cake-making,
150 gr. of lard,
white wine,
salt.
For the filling:
300 gr. of fresh cow cheese,
100 gr. of mature cow cheese,
a "soppressata“( a kind of salami),
10 eggs.
Preparation:
Put flour on a baking board and knead it with lard, a pinch of salt and a lot of
wine, until a quite consistent mixture is obtained. Cover and leave to rest for 15
minutes. In the meantime, prepare the filling: grate cheese and beat it with
eggs and a pinch of salt. Add soppressata cut into slices and mix all together.
Take the dough. Divide it into two pieces and with a floury rolling pin, roll out 2
quite thick layers of dough. Put the first layer in a well greased and floured pie
dish. Pour in the filling and cover with the second layer of dough. Press down
well around the side of the pie dish with the finger tips. Brush beaten egg yolk
over the top and bake in a moderately heated oven for about one hour.
This is a typical Molisan pie. The word sciadone or fiadone, which comes from the German
“fladen”, means “something inflated” and dates back to the middle ages.

9. Chiacchiere
Chatters
Ingredients:
250 gr. white-wheat flour,
2 tbsp. sugar,
20 gr. butter,
milk (if necessary),
2 eggs,
1 tbsp. Brandy,
a pinch of salt,
grated zest of lemon,
oil for frying.
Preparation:
Put all the ingredients on a work surface and prepare the dough. You can
add some milk if the dough is too dry. Cover with a napkin and allow to rest
for at least 1h. Dust a clean surface with flour and roll out the dough until
very fine. Cut into strips about 10 cm long that you will delicately tie into
knots or cut into rectangles and make some cuts in each rectangle. Fry a
few at a time in plenty of oil and when they turn brown, remove and drain on
kitchen paper.
Pile chiacchiere on a large tray or plate to form a pyramid and sprinkle with
icing sugar.

10. Graffe
Krapfen
Ingredients:
500 g flour,
500 g potatoes,
4 eggs,
70 g sugar,
50 g butter,
25 g brewer’s yeast,
a pinch of salt,
grated lemon rind,
½ glass of warm milk.
Preparation:
Boil the potatoes, peel, mash and mix them with the flour, the sugar, the
salt, the butter, the zest of lemon and the yeast dissolved into the warm
milk. Add the eggs and knead the mixture until it is a smooth dough. Roll it
out flat and cut it into small pieces, giving them the form of doughnuts. Let
them rise until they have doubled in size (about 2 hours). Then fry them
into a lot of hot oil. Remove from fat, drain on absorbent paper and while
hot, roll them in sugar.

11. Bomboloni
Doughnuts
Ingredients:
500 gr. flour,
500 gr. potatoes,
4 eggs,
70 gr. sugar,
50 gr. butter,
25 gr. brewer’s yeast,
a pinch of salt,
grated lemon rind,
½ glass of warm milk,
confectioners’ sugar.
Preparation:
Boil the potatoes. Peel, mash and mix them with the flour, the sugar, the salt,
the butter, the zest of lemon and the yeast dissolved into the warm milk. Add
the eggs. Knead the mixture until a soft dough forms. Roll it out flat and thin.
With a glass cut small round pieces and let them rise until they have doubled
in size (about 2 hours). Fry them into a lot of hot oil. Remove from fat, drain on
absorbent paper.
Bomboloni are similar to graffe but they are filled with jam, cream, custard or other sweet
filling and then sprinkled with a light veil of confectioners’ sugar.

12. PASQUA
EASTER
Long before Easter, bakeries fill their windows
with boxes of “Colomba”, chocolate eggs, and
sweet breads with hard-boiled, pastel-coloured
eggs.
Lamb, eggs, and bread are some basic elements
commonly found everywhere in Italy, but the
Easter table may vary greatly. Each region, in
fact, has its own particular versions of Easter pies
made with eggs, cheese, ricotta cheese,
selections of cold meats and a great number of
traditional sweets.
A lot of traditional dishes are seasonal specialities
containing artichokes, asparagus, baby peas and
fava beans which overflow local market stands in
springtime.

13. Costolette di agnello
Grilled lamb ribs
Ingredients:
lamb ribs,
2 cloves garlic,
6 tbsp. olive oil,
3 stalks rosemary,
salt and pepper.
Preparation:
Try to use lamb ribs that are young and tender. Marinate the ribs in a mixture
of mashed garlic, olive oil, chopped rosemary, and salt and pepper for at
least 1 hour.
Meanwhile, prepare the barbecue. Arrange the ribs on the grill oven hot
barbecue coals. Cook about 5 minutes on each side (depending on how
large the ribs are). The meat should not be completely dry - it should be
pinkish-white inside and still a little juicy.
Serve hot, drizzled with olive oil.

14. Agnello casce e ova
Casce e ova lamb
Ingredients:
1 kg. lamb,
olive oil,
1 glass of wine,
broth/stock,
1 onion,
8 eggs,
200 gr. of grated parmesan or pecorino cheese,
a pinch of pepper,
salt.
Preparation:
Put a tablespoon of oil and a finely chopped onion into a casserole dish. Put the dish
over moderate heat and, as soon as the onion has coloured a little, add the leg of
lamb cut into pieces. Brown the meat and then wet with a glass of dry white wine,
allowing it to evaporate Cover the dish and leave it to cook slowly for one hour,
stirring from time to time and wetting with hot broth or water, if necessary.
In the meantime in a cup mix the eggs, the cheese with salt and pepper. Mix well
and pour over the meat once it is well cooked, moving the pieces of meat with a fork
to make sure the egg penetrates everywhere. Leave to boil for a few minutes then
put in the oven at about 150° until there is a golden crust on the surface.
The casce e ova is a classic in the Molise cuisine. It was originally traditional at Easter as a
favourite dish, being particularly rich but today, with on improvement in lifestyle, it has become a dish
for every season.

15. Pastiera di riso
Pastiera with rice
Ingredients:
For the short pastry:
400 gr. flour for cake making,
3 eggs,
150 gr. sugar,
150 gr. butter,
grated zest of a lemon.
For the filling:
400 gr. milk,
120 gr. rice,
500 gr. ricotta cheese,
250 gr. sugar,
3 eggs,
candied fruit, vanilla, icing sugar.
Preparation:
Cook the rice with the rind of the lemon over medium heat until all the milk is
absorbed; remove from the heat and let cool. In the meantime, prepare the short
pastry: combine the ingredients, working them as little as possible, to create a
smooth dough. Let rest in the fridge for 30 to 60 minutes. Mix together the sugar and
the ricotta; add the egg yolks one at a time; add the vanilla and candied fruit,
mixing well after each addition. Combine the rice and ricotta. Beat the egg whites
until they form stiff peaks; gently fold them into the ricotta mixture. Grease a pie
plate; divide the pastry ball into half; line the pie plate with pastry and pour in the
filling. Decorate the surface with strips of pastry and put in the oven on a moderate
heat for about an hour. Let cool before unmolding. Sprinkle with icing sugar and
serve at room temperature.

16. Pastiera di grano
Pastiera with wheat
Ingredients:
420 gr. can pre-cooked wheat grains,
orange-flower essence or Millefiori flavouring,
250 ml. milk,
175 gr. butter,
grated zest of 1 orange or 1 lemon,
550 gr. ricotta cheese (Italian cottage cheese),
7 eggs,
590 gr. sugar,
350 gr. white flour,
a pinch of salt,
icing sugar,
50 gr. candied fruit.
Preparation:
For the short pastry: on a work surface pour the flour, 140g sugar, 2 yolks and 140g
butter and salt and mix all together without kneading for a long time. Meanwhile
prepare the filling. In a pan put the wheat grain, the milk, 25 g butter and 1 and the
lemon or orange peel. Mix all the ingredients and let them simmer for about 10
minutes. Then let them cool. In a bowl mix the ricotta cheese, 450 g sugar and 5 eggs.
Then add the candied fruit and the wheat grain. Stir all the ingredients until you
obtain a creamy mixture. Preheat oven to 180° C. Divide the dough in two parts: one
large part is for the base and the other for decoration. Roll out the first part of the
dough and cover the bottom and the sides of a buttered cake tin. Pour the mixture
into the surface of the dough. Roll out the second part of the dough and cut it into thin
strips. Put them on the surface of the cake. Bake for 60 minutes at 180° C until lightly
browned on top. Cool before serving sprinkled with icing sugar.

17. Come preparare il grano
Cooking your own wheat
These days you can find cooked wheat in many
Italian specialty stores, but if you wanted to, you
could easily cook your own.
Follow the directions below.
Take 1/4 pound skinless wheat and soak it
overnight in cool water in the refrigerator,
changing the water three times. Cover with
lightly salted water in a heavy saucepan, and
cook for about 1 hour. Drain, and rinse the
wheat in cool water in a sieve. Use as needed.

18. Pigna
Easter panettone
Ingredients:
30 gr. yeast,
10 eggs,
1,5 kg. flour,
300 gr. sugar,
250 gr. potatoes,
250 gr. oil,
250 gr. milk,
grated lemon.
Preparation:
Beat the eggs, smash the cooked potatoes and add them to the dough with the
sugar and oil. Mix the yeast with the warm milk and put it into 500 g flour and
work it well until the dough is smooth. Let it rise and when the yeast compound
is ready add it to the beaten eggs, the smashed potatoes, the sugar and oil. Wait
for the yeasting, then divide the dough in different high forms and cook in
warm oven (about 180°) for 30 minutes more or less.
Pigna is the Easter equivalent of the Christmas
panettone in the region Molise. Someone adds aniseed
liqueur or anice (ouso), among other things. The cooked
cake is covered with beaten egg white and coloured
confetti (coloured sugar).

19. Colomba di Pasqua
Easter dove
Ingredients:
500 gr. flour,
150 gr. sugar,
25 gr. yeast,
a glass of milk,
4 eggs,
2 yolks ,
100 gr. candied orange,
100 gr. almonds,
50 gr. icing sugar (granella),
a pinch of salt.
Preparation:
Mix 250 g flour and the yeast melted into some warm milk, make a dough and
let it rise. Knead the remaining flour with the eggs, the sugar, the softened
butter, salt, the orange in pieces and the milk. Add the leavened dough and
knead until the dough is smooth and rather compact. Let the dough rise in a
warm place until increased by 1/3 third in volume. Knead the dough once more
and let it rise. Put it in a buttered dove-shaped baking pan and let rise again for
half an hour.
Beat the yolks, and brush the dough and top the surface with almonds pressing
them in slightly and then sprinkle with the granulated sugar crystals. Pre-heat
the oven. Put the dough in the oven for an hour, at first hot and then at moderate
temperature.

20. Fiadone salato
Savoury fiadone
Ingredients:
For pastry crust:
500 gr. flour,
150 gr. lard,
2 eggs,
2 tbsp. white wine,
a little water,
salt.
For the filling:
300 gr. parmesan cheese,
50 gr. pecorino cheese,
300 gr. fresh cow cheese,
4 eggs.
Preparation:
On a work top mix flour, eggs, lard the wine and salt. Knead all together and add
water as much as is needed to form a smooth, homogeneous dough. Cover it with a
cloth and leave to rest. The filling is prepared by beating the eggs and grated
cheeses. If the mixture is too liquid add other cheese. Roll out the pastry and with a
round pastry cutter cut out circles. Place a little of the prepared mixture on one half of
each of the circles and fold over the other half of the pastry on top of it and press down
well around the edge to prevent the mixture from coming out while they are cooking.
Brush the surface with beaten egg, riddle with holes and put in the oven for about an
hour at 180°.
In some place in Molise, this fiadone is made with cottage cheese, sugar and lemon peel and sausage.
We always make two versions - one with ricotta and one with ham and Swiss cheese.

21. Fiadone dolce
Sweet fiadone
Ingredients:
For pastry crust:
500 gr. flour,
150 gr. lard,
100 gr. sugar,
2 eggs,
2 tbsp. white wine,
a little water,
salt.
For the filling:
300 gr. parmesan cheese,
50 gr. pecorino cheese,
300 gr. fresh cow cheese,
4 eggs,
100 gr. sugar,
juice of 3 lemons.
Preparation:
Follow the same procedure indicated in Fiadone salato.

22. RICETTA PER L’AMICIZIA
RECIPE FOR FRIENDSHIP

23. Two tablespoons of
HONESTY
and
a dash of
Two cups of PATIENCE
LOYALTY
Two heaping cups of One teaspoon of
LAUGHTER KINDNESS

24. Mix Well
½ cup of
COMPANIONSHIP
Serve
GENEROUSLY
Bake in a
WARM HEART

25. Thanks for your
FRIENDSHIP
3F