Zaletti, the crisp, golden, Venetian biscotti-like cookies made with the region's signature grain, polenta, beckon you to dip them into coffee, fruit sauce, or dessert wine. Greg tested a zaletti recipe for his friend Julia della Croce, cookbook author and Forktales food blogger. The recipe is below.
Zaletti (Venice's Golden Cornmeal Cookies)
4 ounces (3/4 cup) dried currants or chopped raisins
2 tablespoons flour (dip into flour container and level), plus 1-1/2 cups (7 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned into dry measuring cups to overflowing and sweeping off excess to level)
11 tablespoons (1 stick and 3 tablespoons, or 5-1/2 ounces) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons rum or Cognac
1 cup fine polenta, instant or traditional
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine salt
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)
1. In a small bowl, toss together the currants or chopped raisins with the 2 tablespoons of flour and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in an ample mixing bowl using a portable electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth, 1-2 minutes. If using a stand mixer use the flat beater. Break in the eggs one at a time and beat each in thoroughly with the flat beater. Switch to the whip attachment and slowly drizzle in the alcohol while beating on medium speed. Beat until smooth and fully combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together thoroughly the 1-1/2 cups flour, polenta, baking powder, and salt.
4. By hand, using a wooden spoon, or on low speed with the flat beater, stir in the dry ingredients and the dried fruit into the beaten butter mixture until well incorporated. The dough will be thick and wet.
5. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and toss around to coat lightly with flour. Pat the dough into a 6-inch square and divide the dough into four equal sections. Each will weigh about 7.5 ounces. Roll each section into cylinders about 7 inches long and 1-inch in diameter. Wrap each well in plastic film. Set the rolls on a baking sheet and refrigerate for about 1 hour or until the dough is firm enough to slice easily. Alternatively, you can refrigerate the dough cylinders overnight or for up to 1 week, or freeze them for up to 2 months. If freezing, when you are ready to bake, thaw the rolls until they are firm enough to slice neatly.
6. When you are ready to bake, adjust an oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets (17 x 12 x 2-inches) or cookie sheets (14 x 17-inches) with bakers’ parchment.
7. Slice each cylinder into fourteen 1/2-inch rounds; place them, about 2 inches apart, on the prepared baking sheets, and press on them gently with two fingers to flatten them to a thickness of about 1/4-inch. I put 24 cookies on a large cookie sheet.
8. Bake one sheet at a time until the cookies are golden on top and cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through to bake them evenly. Remove the cookies from the oven at once and transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
9. Serve warm or at room temperature, first dusted with confectioners’ sugar, if you like.
Note: If you slice 56 cookies, you’ll have 8 extra to bake separately. Zaletti are best if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
(Broadcast: "The Food Guys," 11/13/16 and 12/16/18. Listen weekly on the radio at 11:50 a.m. Sundays and again at 4:54 p.m. Thursdays, or via podcast.)