Taralli made at home, a typical baked product from southern Italy. The taralli recipe is very simple with a dough that includes only flour, water or wine, salt, and oil, but they can be enriched with various spices to flavor them, such as fennel seeds, rosemary, anise, olives, and chili. Everyone can enhance the recipe according to their taste.
In this recipe, I used excess sourdough because I had refreshed it the previous day but hadn’t had time to knead, so without refreshing it again, I used it to make the taralli.
If you don’t have sourdough, just increase the recipe by 80g of flour and 40g of water without adding yeast, which is not needed for this preparation.
The cooking of taralli is unique because it involves a double cooking process. Once the dough is prepared, small pieces are separated from it to make small loaves of a few inches long, about 5 inches, which are rolled into rings. Once all the taralli are prepared, they are boiled for a few minutes in salted water, cooled, and dried on a cloth to be then baked in the oven. This double cooking gives the taralli their typical crunchy texture on the outside and crumbly inside, as well as their glossy golden color.
Taralli are a savory snack that can be used as a snack, appetizer, and in starters. They keep well if properly wrapped in food bags and can be a welcome gift for various occasions, just like friselle.
For those who love homemade savory snacks, I also remind
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 25 Minutes
- Portions: 85 taralli
- Cooking methods: Oven, Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 39.39 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 4.99 (g) of which sugars 0.11 (g)
- Proteins 0.81 (g)
- Fat 1.78 (g) of which saturated 0.25 (g)of which unsaturated 1.48 (g)
- Fibers 0.17 (g)
- Sodium 66.81 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 12 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 4.2 oz sourdough (excess)
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cake flour
- 2/3 cup white wine
- 1/3 cup water
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 pinch baking soda
- to taste rosemary (chopped, optional)
- 4 1/4 cups water (for boiling)
- 1 tsp salt (coarse, for boiling water)
Tools
To prepare the dough, I recommend using a stand mixer with a dough hook for tough doughs, but you can also knead by hand.
For stovetop cooking, you need a pot with high edges to boil water.
For oven cooking, you need two baking sheets lined with parchment paper
- 1 Stand Mixer
- 1 Pot
- 2 Baking Sheets
Preparation
The preparation of taralli is not difficult, just follow the steps and resting times.
Break the sourdough into pieces in the stand mixer’s bowl and add water, wine, and oil; start kneading at low speed. Then add flour, baking soda, salt, and finally the rosemary. Mix at medium-low speed until a homogeneous and compact dough forms.
Transfer the dough to a bowl and let it rest, covered, for about half an hour.
Take the dough again to form your taralli in the sizes you prefer. Put the dough on a work surface; you shouldn’t need to use additional flour. Break it into small pieces, and with each piece, first make a small loaf that you will then close into a ring. Seal the circle well by pressing the joint to prevent them from opening during cooking. For convenience, place the taralli on baking sheets already lined with parchment paper. While preparing the taralli, put water with the coarse salt on the stove and bring it to a boil.
When the water boils, start cooking your taralli, a few at a time. Throw them into the boiling water and let them cook, turning them gently with a fork until they float. When they float, take them out with the fork and place them on a cotton towel to dry.
They must dry well before being baked, so let them dry uncovered for at least an hour, but they can stay even longer. Return them to the trays lined with parchment paper and bake them in a preheated oven at 375°F for about 25/30 minutes, depending on their size, until golden. Then increase the oven to 400°F for another 5 minutes or until they are fully cooked. Turn off the oven and leave them in the oven off for about 5 minutes before taking them out.
NOTES
It will be hard to resist not eating them all, but you can store them for a long time in sealed plastic bags and food containers with lids.
Remember that you can consume them without any flavors, but if you want to get creative, you can enrich their taste using many different ingredients each time you make them.
If you liked the recipe or have any questions, feel free to comment here or on social media Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and X.
