Grandma Maria’s Messina Pignolata.
I grew up in my grandmother’s pastry shop and watched tons and tons of pignolata being prepared, but its history goes much further back.
During the Spanish occupation, on the occasion of Carnival celebrations, in Messina, people were offered dishes, often invented by them, including some special sweets, fried pine nut heaps mixed with honey in the shape of a pinecone.
As years went by, the people of Messina learned to cook this delicious treat, replacing the pine nuts with small pieces of egg pasta, about one or two centimeters long, and frying them.
Over time, that egg biscuit completely replaced the pine nuts.
Thanks to the skill of the Messina pastry chefs, they managed to transform this delicacy into what we know today.

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Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Very economical
Rest time: 2 Hours
Preparation time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Portions: 6
Cooking methods: Frying, Boiling
Cuisine: Regional Italian
Region: Sicily
Seasonality: All seasons

670.68 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 670.68 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 85.82 (g) of which sugars 44.02 (g)
Proteins 10.62 (g)
Fat 32.98 (g) of which saturated 13.07 (g)of which unsaturated 18.69 (g)
Fibers 9.35 (g)
Sodium 48.13 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 150 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

for the cookies

2 1/2 cups flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsps lard (Or butter)
1 tbsp Limoncello
2 tsp lemon (zest)
as needed Vegetable oil
as needed Lard
1 egg white
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
3 1/2 oz dark chocolate
2 tsp butter

Grandma Maria’s Messina Pignolata

Tools

What we need to make

Stand Mixer
3 Bowls
Frying Pan large
Pot
Paper Towels

Preparation of Grandma Maria’s Messina Pignolata

To make

In a bowl, place the flour. In the center, incorporate eggs, lard or butter, sugar, lemon zest, and Limoncello.
Work the ingredients until a homogeneous dough forms.
Form a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and let it rest in the fridge for half an hour.
Now on a lightly floured surface, cut thin sticks about 1/2 inch in thickness and then cut them into pieces 1 or 2 inches long.
Remove any excess flour and fry in plenty of hot vegetable oil, about 3/4, and the rest lard. The temperature should be quite hot.
Cook until golden brown, drain with a slotted spoon, and let excess oil dry on paper towels. Meanwhile…
Prepare the white glaze by putting the egg white in a bowl and starting to whip.
When it’s whipped to stiff peaks, start adding the powdered sugar slowly, continuously working with the beaters.
Now it’s time to add the lemon juice
Dip half of the cookies, mix well, and start placing them on a tray, arranging them on half of the tray, leaving the opposite side free, ready for the chocolate part.
Melt the chocolate with the butter in a double boiler.
Immerse the remaining cookies and mix them well to make the glaze adhere.
Complete the tray where you previously placed the white pignolata.
If you have any glaze left, both white and chocolate, drizzle it over the pignolata, making sure it doesn’t drip on the edges of the tray.
Let the glazes dry for 2 hours, and here is Grandma Maria’s Messina Pignolata ready.
At Carnival, you can decorate it with sugar paste confetti and masks.