The macaroni with walnuts is a humble dessert from the Viterbo tradition, prepared during the Christmas and Easter holidays.
It was the fourth recipe of the “Tourism and Culture” project organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Rieti and Viterbo and the Special Company of Central Italy, where some food and wine bloggers and journalists cooked traditional dishes from Upper Lazio.
In this fourth “episode,” the talented Vittoria Tassoni explained in detail the preparation of this dessert with humble origins and a long history. When you read the ingredients, you will be surprised because this dish is made with durum wheat pasta, the kind we usually consume with a nice sauce. But, being a dish of Medieval origin, it is no surprise to find sugar in the preparation. With the discovery of the Americas, chocolate was added, making this recipe even more delicious.
To satisfy your chocolate cravings, here are some delicious recipes.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 8 people
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas, Easter
- Energy 243.98 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 29.33 (g) of which sugars 14.47 (g)
- Proteins 5.01 (g)
- Fat 12.06 (g) of which saturated 2.22 (g)of which unsaturated 1.34 (g)
- Fibers 3.44 (g)
- Sodium 115.74 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 70 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 macaroni with walnuts
- 9 oz pasta (type reginette)
- 4.2 oz walnuts
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1.8 oz dark chocolate
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 rusk biscuits
- 3 tbsp alchermes
- to taste ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
Tools
- Loaf pan
Preparation of macaroni with walnuts
First, boil the reginette in plenty of lightly salted water.
Meanwhile, prepare the chocolate mixture.
Chop the walnuts, half very finely and the other half more coarsely. Set aside some for the final decoration.
In a large bowl, pour in the sugar, unsweetened cocoa, chopped dark chocolate, finely crumbled rusk biscuits, and chopped walnuts. Mix to make the mixture homogeneous.
Once the reginette are cooked, leave them to cook a couple of minutes more, they should not be too al dente, drain them and pour them into the bowl with the chocolate mixture. Stir immediately vigorously so that the mixture melts well with the heat of the pasta and everything is well combined.
Line a loaf pan of about 9-10 inches with parchment paper and pour in the pasta and chocolate mixture. Press it down well with the help of a spoon and sprinkle the surface with alchermes.
Decorate with the whole walnuts set aside, cover with cling film and put the dessert in the fridge for at least two hours.
Serve the macaroni with walnuts in slices.
