The Neapolitan Migliaccio, a traditional Carnival sweet, concludes the Italian Menu for “Building the Menu”.
The original recipe is based on a few simple ingredients, including millet, from which it takes its name (from the Latin miliaccium indicating a traditional millet bread), often replaced by semolina today.
However, it is precisely this ingredient, millet or semolina, that makes Neapolitan migliaccio different from all other Italian migliacci, such as the Emilian one, made with pig’s blood like the Pistoian one, and the Florentine version, prepared with chestnut flour, better known as castagnaccio.
And ricotta, eggs, lard (today replaced by butter), orange zest and sugar.
Some variations also include orange blossom essence and/or rum.
It can also be savory, with the dough enriched with cured meats and cheeses, baked and served cold.
Tradition dictates that migliaccio should be tall, although many prefer it thin.
Baked in a copper pan or alternatively in aluminum, to be consumed on Fat Tuesday or Thursday.
My recipe uses millet, ground into flour, as originally intended, for a gluten-free version, which you can replace with semolina.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Rest time: 10 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 6 people
- Cooking methods: Oven, Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Carnival
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups water
- to taste orange and lemon zest
- 3 tbsp butter
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 1/4 cups ricotta
- 1 1/2 cups millet (or semolina)
- to taste gluten-free powdered sugar
- to taste orange blossom essence (optional)
Tools
- 1 Pan 26 cm copper
Steps
Grind the millet into flour using a blender.
Bring the milk to a boil with water and orange and lemon zest.
Remove the zest after about 10 minutes of infusion.
Add butter and millet gradually.
Cook for about 5 minutes.
Let the cream cool, covered.
Mix eggs with sugar, add ricotta and orange blossom essence (optional).
Add the millet cream.
Bake in the oven at 392°F (200°C) for about 1 hour.
Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar.
To best celebrate Carnival:
