Marmellata D'uva Nera (Misticotto Abruzzese)

        This recipe of misticotto is an old Abruzzese version made strictly with black grapes.

Sangiovese grapes from California

 Shell the grapes and rinse them under running water.

Put the washed berries in a pot with a thick bottom.

Place the pot on the stove and mix with a wooden spoon. Once the boiling phase is reached, lower the heat and continue stirring from time to time to obtain a fairly homogeneous mixture. After about two hours, turn off the heat and let it cool. When the mixture is cold, it is necessary to carry it out with a hand-cranked vegetable mill that has holes of medium size.

The purée is carried out to remove the seeds and some peels that have not disintegrated.

Put the pureed mixture back into the pot and put it back on the heat.

Cook again, stirring very often until it shrinks and becomes a jam. It has to cook a lot around 1 hour or more.

To make sure that the jam is ready, try the saucer: pour a teaspoon of jam on the saucer, tilt the saucer and see how much the jam drips. If the jam runs too much then it must cook again, if it runs little it's ready, if it doesn't run at all it's overcooked.

                     

When the grape jam is ready, immediately pour it into the sterile jars, close the jars with the lid and turn them upside down. Cool the grape jam in the jars upside down in order to create the vacuum. Pasteurizing the jam is important to ensure that the jam can then be stored in the pantry for a long time. Pasteurizing the jam is very simple. Just put the jars of jam in a pot, pour cold water over them until they are completely covered, turn on the heat and cook everything for 15-20 minutes starting from the moment of boiling.

Once you have misticotto on hand, it's time to make tarallucci.

TARALLUCCI CASALESI

Tarallucci are also known as "Celli Ripieni" in other parts of Abruzzo. They are made with a very crumbly pasta, oil and wine filled with grape jam enriched with chocolate, toasted almonds and a little rum.

Ingredients for the Filling:

• 1 lb. black grape jam
• 1/2 cup of dark cocoa
• 1/2 cup grated chocolate
• 1 cup chopped roasted almonds
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 orange zest
• 2 tablespoons rum 
• Few tablespoons of espresso coffee

Preparing the Filling

In a saucepan put the jam with almonds, chocolate, orange peel and rum. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Cool and store in refrigerator in a covered jar. (This can be done a day or two prior to baking.)

Ingredients for dough:

1.5 lb. unbleached flour

2 cups of olive oil

1 cup white wine

1 tablespoon of sugar

Procedure for the dough:

In a large bowl, pour the oil, wine and sugar.

Sprinkle in the flour and mix.

Work the dough for 10 minutes or so until it is elastic.

Shape into a ball and let it rest for 15 minutes.

After resting, take the dough and spread thinly in the shape of an oval.

Put a spoonful of filling and close on itself. Cut off the excess dough with wheel and bring the ends to the center.

Place them in a baking pan covered with parchment paper and bake in the preheated oven (350 degrees) for 25 to 30 minutes.

When cooked, place them on a tray and dust with powdered sugar.