Today I present one of the latest creations from my kitchen, which for a few years now has had to be necessarily divided between gluten recipes and others that are gluten and lactose-free. This time it’s the turn of the Neapolitan roccocò, which I have successfully revised in a “gluten-free” version. They have nothing to envy from their traditional “cousins”, as they are just as good, aromatic, easy, and quick to make. The characteristic note of Neapolitan roccocò, the ingredient that must absolutely not be missing, is “pisto”, a blend of spices that can already be purchased ready-made in grocery or specialty stores. The only precaution I want to emphasize is to respect the quantities of the liquids, to avoid ending up with too soft a dough. For those unfamiliar with this type of preparation, roccocò are hard, distinctly spiced Christmas sweets from Campania, shaped like a donut but a bit flatter, with a very compact yet crumbly texture. They are served with liqueurs like limoncello, arancello, mandarinetto, vermouth, Vin Santo, and so on (I love them dipped in milk). Thanks to their consistency, they can be prepared well in advance (they become tastier over time), then stored in tin boxes or food bags to enjoy from Christmas Eve.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 15
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups gluten-free rice flour
- 1/4 cup gluten-free corn starch
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 3 tbsp tangerine juice
- 1 tsp baking ammonia
- 1 tsp pisto
- 3/4 cup mix of toasted hazelnuts and almonds
- 2 tsp anise or Strega liqueur
- 1 1/2 tbsp room temperature water
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 1 egg yolk for brushing
- 1 tsp wildflower honey
- to taste orange and tangerine zest
Steps
To prepare gluten-free Neapolitan roccocò, get toasted hazelnuts and almonds and chop them together coarsely without leaving too large pieces.
Wash the orange, grate the peel very finely, then squeeze the juice and measure it.
Wash the tangerine, peel it, and chop the peel with a knife very, very finely (as it is not easy to grate the peel of a tangerine, unlike an orange or lemon). Squeeze the tangerine juice and measure it as well.
Preheat the oven to 356°F.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper
Roccocò can be prepared by hand or with a stand mixer, but I recommend using your hands to immediately understand when the dough is ready and avoid it becoming too soft.
In a large bowl, place the dry ingredients: the chopped nut mix, the zest from the two citrus fruits, rice flour, corn starch, sugar, pisto, baking ammonia, salt.
Mix the dry ingredients well, even with your hands.
Now introduce the liquids, remembering that the roccocò dough should be hard and compact, meaning the dry ingredients must all be perfectly absorbed by the liquids.
Pour the liqueur and the citrus juices first in the quantities indicated above.
Continue mixing with one hand, while pouring one teaspoon of water at a time with the other.
Each time you introduce the water, knead for about 30 seconds. If you realize that you cannot absorb the flour or create a homogeneous and compact dough, then add another.
This precaution is not pedantry, but necessary.
With gluten-bonded flours, you immediately realize if you have overdone it with the liquids; it’s not the same with gluten-free flours.
At first, it will seem like you have a firm, compact dough, but then, as seconds pass (or minutes for resting doughs) and you continue to work them, they release the trapped moisture, leaving you with a mushy, unmanageable dough.
If in doubt, I recommend adding one less teaspoon of water rather than one more.
If the dough becomes too soft, don’t panic. Using two spoons, take a portion the size of a small tangerine, place it on the parchment on the tray, and continue like this until you finish the dough, spacing them two fingers apart. Even if they don’t have the classic shape, what matters is the unique taste and aroma.
Once you have your dough, transfer it to a work surface and, using more rice flour as needed, break off pieces about 1.75 oz each.
Roll each piece gently with your hands to form a sort of cigar about 5 inches long and as thick as a finger and a half (it’s important they’re thick because they will flatten during baking).
Shape them into rings and place them on a baking tray covered with parchment paper, spacing them about a finger and a half apart. Continue until all your roccocò are formed.
Finally, brush them with a little beaten egg yolk, flavored with cinnamon, liqueur, or a little milk.
Bake immediately at mid-height in a preheated oven at 356°F for 30 minutes.
The roccocò are ready when the dough has completely lost its shine and will detach from the parchment paper, but check the bottom often, as rice flour and corn starch tend to darken quickly and may burn; in this case, lower the temperature to 338°F or place them higher if your oven only heats from the bottom.
Don’t worry if, just out of the oven, the roccocò feel very soft to the touch; they will harden as they cool.
Bon appétit
