Taralli napolitani con mandorle e pepe

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1 kg flour
• 250 g almonds
• 1 cube of fresh yeast
• 12 g black pepper, freshly ground
• 28 g salt
• 200 ml olive oil
• 300 ml water, warm
• 100 g cracklings
• 1 pinch(s) of sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 3 hours 15 minutes

Neapolitan snacks with coarse pepper, almonds and salt – perfect for an aperitif

Warm the lard to room temperature. Roughly chop the almonds. Pour the warm water into a deep bowl and dissolve the yeast in it. Then mix in 3 tablespoons of flour and season with salt and coarsely ground pepper. Stir in the olive oil and lard. Gradually mix in the flour and almonds and knead into a soft dough. It shouldn’t stick. Add a little water or flour if necessary. Cover the dough and let it rest in a warm place for about an hour. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius (320 degrees Fahrenheit) and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Tear the dough into about 48 equal pieces and roll each piece individually into a thin rope. Twist them into a spiral and form into a circle. Seal or fold in the ends. Spread the taralli on the baking sheet and let it rest, covered, for 15 minutes. Only then transfer to the hot oven and bake for about an hour, until the taralli are dry and golden brown. This will ensure they are nice and crispy. Perfect with an Aperol Spritz in the afternoon or wine in the evening. Makes about 48 taralli. They are best stored in a simple tin. Supposedly, the pastries will keep fresh for up to three months if they survive that long. For a vegan version, replace the lard with 70 ml olive oil and add a splash of water if desired. You can also mix a few pine nuts into the dough instead of bacon. Note: These special Neapolitan taralli are much larger and have a more puff pastry-like consistency than their much smaller “brothers,” which are also popular in Italy and are often baked with wine and flavored with various spices in the dough, but without pepper and almonds.