Turdilli with wine is an ancient recipe of Calabrian sweets prepared during the Christmas period. The original recipe requires very few ingredients to prepare the dough for these sweets: flour, wine, and oil. The peculiarity of these sweets is that once ready, they are glazed with honey, often using bee honey today, but in the past vincotto, a very sweet glaze derived from cooking grape must for several hours, or cooked fig honey, was used, known in the Calabrian dialect as milazzu or melicottu, a delicious nectar derived from cooking figs. You can find the recipe to prepare cooked fig honey on my blog. In this version of the turdilli, there are no eggs and no sugar; yeast is not traditionally included, but after many trials, I honestly prefer them with a little yeast, as I have the impression they cook better. I prepare many versions because I love them; these are the sweets I grew up with, my mom and grandmother would make them every year, strictly with fig honey. I also make the version with eggs; actually, the version with eggs has always been made at home. They are all good, worth trying all of them, both with bee honey and with fig honey, or the turdilli with vermouth, always with eggs. Last year, I also prepared a version with wine and a little sugar, also excellent. Find this recipe in the Christmas sweets collection.
Here are other Calabrian Christmas sweets.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 15 Minutes
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: about 40 pieces
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup moscato wine
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- to taste cinnamon
- to taste orange zest
- to taste sunflower oil for frying
- 1 cup honey
- to taste sprinkles
- 1 tsp baking powder (recommended)
Tools to Prepare Turdilli
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Grater
- 1 Knife
- 1 Rolling Board
- 1 Pan
- 1 Tray
Steps to Prepare Turdilli
In a large bowl, put the flour, with baking powder, grated organic orange zest, and a pinch of cinnamon if desired. Add oil and wine and start mixing with a spoon, then continue working by hand, also on a rolling board, to obtain a smooth and non-sticky shortcrust pastry. Let the wine pastry rest for at least 15 minutes.
Divide the dough into 4 portions and from each, make a rope about the width of a thumb. Cut the rope into pieces about 1.2 inches (or about 3 fingers width, slightly less). If using baking powder, they will grow a bit during cooking; I did not use it in the video.
Use a gnocchi board to make ridges on the turdilli. I didn’t use any flour as the dough didn’t need it, but if it turns out soft, you can use a little during this entire phase.
Fry in plenty of hot oil at about 338°F until the turdilli are golden brown on all sides. Once golden, drain and dry on absorbent paper. Let them cool a little.
In a large pan, put the honey and heat it. You can add a little water if it is too thick, especially homemade cooked fig honey. Heat and glaze the turdilli a few at a time by passing them in the hot honey and gently stirring with a ladle. Place the turdilli one by one on serving trays and immediately sprinkle with colored sprinkles. Let cool before enjoying.
These turdilli are very crumbly and melt in the mouth. They can be stored for a long time, kept covered in a pantry, which is why they are made in advance of Christmas to serve throughout the holiday season. Therefore, many are made; I prepare with 500 g of flour for just us two, but if I know there will be many of us, I make at least a double batch, with 1 kg of flour, doubling all other ingredients too.
Obviously, these delicious cookies are also suitable for children, as the alcohol content in the wine evaporates during cooking.
They can be stored in a large bowl covered with plastic wrap, in a pantry, for 15-20 days.
