For a different breakfast than usual or a snack with a rustic flavour, we offer you a reinterpretation of the traditional Salento Pitteddhe, small desserts from the Apulian peasant cuisine prepared with barley flour and filled with grape jam. A simple recipe that recounts the flavors of the past, when just a few ingredients were enough to bring something good to the table.
In reality, to make the taste of these sweets more pleasant we have made some small changes to the original recipe, which does not include the use of sugar, a very rare ingredient in the peasant kitchens of the past.
The origins of a traditional peasant dessert
Salento’s Pitteddhe are an example of poor Apulian cuisine, made of simple ingredients, easily available and linked to the agricultural production of the area. In peasant families, where nothing was wasted, even desserts were prepared with what was available: cereal flours, olive oil and homemade fruit preserves.
One of the most characteristic ingredients is barley flour, a cereal that for centuries has played an important role in the nutrition of rural populations. Grape jam, traditionally used for the filling, added sweetness without the need for sugar, which was once less accessible than today.
Ingredients
Preparation
Take a large glass bowl and pour in the barley flour, oil, egg and sugar, mix vigorously and quickly until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous dough (barley flour is much less refined than soft wheat flour, so it will take a few minutes longer to mix it than a normal shortcrust pastry).
Once you have a smooth dough, wrap it in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Then preheat the oven to 180 degrees, roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is about half a centimeter thick and cut out lots of biscuits (of an even number) using cookie cutters; then fill half of the biscuits with grape jam (or whatever you prefer), pair them one by one with the other half without filling, press lightly with your fingers and place them on a baking tray covered with baking paper.
Cook for about 20-25 minutes, or until the sweets have taken on a light colour, then remove from the oven, leave to cool and serve.
Why use barley flour to make biscuits?
Barley flour gives these sweets a rustic, slightly toasted flavor and a different texture from that of classic biscuits prepared with soft wheat flour. It also contains fibre, including beta-glucans, which are particularly interesting from a nutritional point of view.
Compared to common white flour, especially if used in the wholemeal version, it allows you to obtain desserts with a more intense flavour. However, it must be remembered that barley contains gluten and is therefore not suitable for people with celiac disease.
Variations and tips to make them even tastier
Although grape jam is the most traditional filling, you can also experiment with other fillings. Fig, apricot or plum jams are particularly suitable, as they go well with the rustic flavor of barley.
To obtain more fragrant biscuits you can add a little grated untreated lemon or orange zest to the dough. However, if the dough turns out to be too crumbly during processing, try rolling it out between two sheets of baking paper, to prevent it from breaking.
Another small tip concerns the filling: do not exaggerate with the quantity of jam and leave a little space along the edges, so as to prevent it from spilling out during cooking.
How to preserve Salento pitteddhe
Once cooked, let the pittedhre cool completely before placing them in an airtight container, preferably glass or tin. Store them in a cool, dry place, away from sources of heat and humidity.
If prepared with a jam with a rather thick consistency, the sweets can keep for around 3-4 days at room temperature, as long as they are stored correctly. As time passes, the dough will tend to soften slightly in contact with the filling.
They are ideal to accompany a cup of tea, herbal tea or morning coffee, to rediscover a small dessert from the Salento tradition.
