Almonds “atterrate”: the typical Apulian recipe

Almonds are one of the most used ingredients to prepare delicious desserts. Even in the Apulian culinary tradition, they lend themselves to numerous preparations such as the delicious “mandorle atterrate” (almonds). Apulian landed almonds are a truly special end to a meal, a typical Christmas dessert, easy to prepare even at home, perhaps having fun getting help from your children.

The traditional recipe

Ingredients:

• 500 g of whole shelled almonds
• 500 g of chocolate (dark, milk or white)

Method:

1. Toast the almonds in a baking pan at 200°, being careful not to burn them to prevent their flavor from becoming bitter.
2. While the almonds are cooling, you can melt the chocolate in a bain-marie, stirring occasionally without adding water.
3. Then add the almonds, mixing with a spoon so that they are completely covered in chocolate and a homogeneous mixture is formed.
4. Using a spoon, create small piles of almonds with the chocolate and place them on a baking tray covered with baking paper.
5. At this point it will be sufficient to wait about 3 hours so that the chocolate solidifies well.
6. The landed almonds will detach perfectly from the baking paper and will be ready to be brought to the table.

They can be kept for several days in the fridge in a closed container (you will need to take them out a few minutes before consuming them) but, being very tasty, they will certainly be snapped up.

Since the preparation is very quick, the advice is to prepare them in the three chocolate variations so as to amaze your guests and satisfy all their tastes.

Variation of landed almonds

Apart from the famous version with chocolate, ground almonds can also be prepared with just sugar and therefore be “caramelized”.

Ingredients:

• 500 g of whole shelled almonds
• 350 g of granulated sugar
• 20 ml of water
• a few drops of lemon

Method:

1. In a pan placed on the stove over low heat, add the sugar, water and lemon.
2. Melt the sugar by stirring continuously with a wooden spoon until it starts to string.
3. Add the almonds, continuing to stir with the wooden spoon so that they mix well with the sugar.
4. Place the almonds on a work surface (traditionally “land”) and open them one by one.
5. Let cool and enjoy.