Apulian Pastarelle: the recipe for dairy biscuits

Apulian pastarelle are typical “soaked” milk (or tea) biscuits that are prepared in different ways throughout Puglia. The Apulian bakeries churn out pasta of all kinds every day to meet the different needs of their customers but they can also be prepared at home because few ingredients and little manual skills are needed. In this way you will obtain more genuine breakfast biscuits compared to the commercial ones found in supermarkets. For this reason they are often present during breakfasts or snacks for adults and children.

Pastarelle from Puglia: the recipe

To prepare Apulian pastarella you need a few simple ingredients to bring a tasty and fragrant, authentic and traditional product to the table.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of flour
• 300 g of sugar
• 150 ml of extra virgin olive oil
• 400 ml of milk
• 6 eggs
• grated peel of one lemon
• 1 sachet of ammonia for desserts

Method:

1. Heat the milk and, once lukewarm, dissolve the ammonia in it.
2. Add all the ingredients (even the milk with ammonia) into a large bowl and mix with a whisk to eliminate any lumps.
3. Cover the baking tray with baking paper and, with the help of a spoon, roll out the dough, spacing the pastries a few centimetres.
4. Before baking, brush a little beaten egg and sugar on the biscuits.
5. Bake in a preheated ventilated oven at 250° for 10 minutes and then in a static oven for 5 minutes.

The pastries thus obtained can be stored for a few days in an airtight container or in a dry place.

Pastarelle Salento: the recipe

Then there is the recipe for Salento pastarelle, traditional milk or tea biscuits, very fragrant and scented.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of flour
• 300 g of sugar
• 4 eggs
• 300 ml of milk
• 160 ml of extra virgin olive oil
• 20 g of ammonia for desserts
• 2 sachets of vanillin
• grated peel of one lemon

Method:

1. On a pastry board, create a well with the flour, add the eggs, sugar, grated lemon peel, oil, vanillin and ammonia.
2. Mix the mixture and gradually add the milk until the consistency becomes neither too soft nor too hard.
3. Roll out the dough obtained with a rolling pin until it becomes a rectangle with a thickness of about one centimeter.
4. Shape the pastries into small rectangles and place them on a baking tray covered with baking paper.
5. Before baking, brush the egg white and sugar onto the biscuits.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 170° for 25 minutes.

Also in this case the pastries can be stored for a few days in an airtight container.

How to prepare Apulian Pastarelle with the Thermomix

Although they can be easily prepared by hand without the use of a food processor, here’s how to prepare Apulian pastarelle with the Thermomix.

Ingredients:

• 650 g of flour
• 180 g of sugar
• 3 eggs
• 80 g of milk
• 180 g of seed oil
• grated peel of one lemon
• 1 sachet of vanillin
• 1 sachet of ammonia for desserts
• a pinch of salt
• icing sugar to taste

Method:

1. Place the sugar and lemon zest in the bowl and mix for 10 seconds at speed 10.
2. Add the eggs and oil and mix on speed 4 for 30 seconds.
3. Add the warm milk, ammonia, vanillin and salt to the mixing bowl and mix for 10 seconds at speed 4.
4. Finally, add the flour and work in “Spiga” mode for 2 minutes.
5. Give the dough a rectangular shape, then form the different pastries and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
6. Sprinkle the icing sugar and bake in a preheated, static oven at 180° for 12 minutes and finally in a fan oven.