Cavicionetti All’Abruzzese #2 (not w/garbanzo beans)

By ctozzi

Ingredients

• For the pastry:
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• A pinch of salt
• For the top:
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar mixed with a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• For the filling:
• 10 pitted prunes
• 10 dried figs, the tough stems removed, the figs roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup dry Marsala
• 1/2 cup whole blanched almonds, lightly toasted
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• A pinch of ground clove
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 heaping tablespoon orange marmalade
• The grated zest from 1 orange
• The grated zest from 1 lemon

Details

Servings 35

Preparation

Step 1

To make the pastry:

Pour the white wine, water, and olive oil into the bowl of your food processor, and pulse a few times to blend. In a small bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, powdered sugar, and a tiny pinch of salt. Add this to the food processor, and pulse quickly a few times, just until it forms a ball. Turn the pastry out onto a floured surface, and knead for a few minutes, just until it holds together (it should be very smooth). Wrap the pastry in plastic, and let it rest for about an hour, unrefrigerated.

To make the filling:

Place the prunes and figs in a shallow bowl, and pour on the Marsala. Let sit for about 30 minutes, stirring it around a few times to soften the fruit.

Put the toasted almonds in the food processor, and pulse until finely chopped (not to a powder, though). Add the prune mixture, the cinnamon, the pinch of clove, sugar, honey, orange marmalade, lemon zest, and orange zest, and pulse until you have a sticky, well-mixed mass.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the pastry in half, keeping the half you’re not working with covered with plastic. Flour a work surface, and roll the pastry out thinly (a little thicker than fresh pasta dough). Flour a 3-inch round cookie cutter and cut as many rounds as you can. Place a teaspoon of filling on each round. Wet the edges all around with water, and fold the cookies over to form a mezzaluna shape. Seal them well by going around the cut edge with the tines of a fork. Do the same with the second piece of pastry (you can gather up all the scraps and reroll them together to get a few more cookies out of it if you like).

Place the cookies on a Silpat- or parchment-lined cookie sheet and brush each cookie with a little olive oil. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until they’re light golden brown. Let the cavicionetti cool for a few minutes, and then dust them with the powdered sugar and cinnamon mixture.