Almond jelly ("Biancomangiare" or Gelo alle mandorle)

Typical of the area of Modica, Biancomangiare is a dessert simple to prepare, its consistency similar to a pudding and its flavor delicate, ideal to consume at the end of a meal or even as a snack.

The traditional recipe prescribes to garnish it with cinnamon powder and almonds, but you can decorate it as you prefer, for example, with chopped pistachios, melted chocolate, mixed berries, fruit, etc...You can prepare it in a single big pudding mold or in little molds to make monoportions.


I will use for the preparation commercial almon milk, but if you want you can make fresh almond milk melting almond paste in water at ambiental temperature (usually it needs 1,25 liters of water to dissolve a paste of 200 grams, anyway you follow the instructions on the package).

Pour the starch and the almond milk in a saucepan and mix until starch will be completely dissolved, be careful that the are no lumps. Now add cinnamon powder, sugar and the lemon peel. Put the saucepan on gas and let cook over a low flame, mixing occasionally. Starting when it begins to boil, let cook for other two minutes, stirring constantly to prevent that cream sticks to saucepan. At this point, remove the lemon peel and pour the cream in a pudding mold (or, if you prefer, in little molds to make single portions) and let cool. When it will cool, put in fridge for at least 4 hours. Personally I suggest you let it in fridge for all the night. Garnish Biancomangiare with cinnamon powder and almonds, or how you prefer, and bring on the table.

If you consume Biancomangiare at the end of the meal, I suggest you to accompany it with a sweet red wine or a sweet sparkling white wine. This cake is ideal to be consumed by our vegan, lactose intolerant or celiac friends.

Doses for 6/8 people:

- 1 liter/US quart of almond milk
- 100 grams/ 4 oz of sugar
- 110 grams/ 4 oz of starch cake
- cinnamon powder (1 dessert spoon for the preparation, 3 to garnish)
- 1 lemon peel (try to cut the peel in a single strip)
- almond to garnish (with o without peel)

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Piparelle ("Pipareddi")

Piparelle (or "Piapreddi") are typical biscuits from Messina, which do my mind travelling in a sweet past: a characteristic hamlet in the mountains of Messina, San Pier Niceto; an old house with a brick oven on the first floor; a recipe written in a yellowed notebook handed down from generation to generation, placed on a table beset with flour; a woman called by all "Aunt Nanna", who loved to wear the apron to make happys his grandchildren and great-grandchildren and the scent that conquered all the rooms, strongly flavored, prelude to a delicious crispness. There are several variants of this recipe but I want to publish just that yellowed by the time, which my mother does live again during Christmas and Easter.

Preheat oven to 180 °C (356 °F). While oven heats up, put the sugar in a kettle on fire and melt it in water (about a glass). After pour flour in a large bowl and add almonds, baking soda, powder cinnamon and  mandarin-peel. Make a well in the center of the flour and put in the center the melted sugar, lard at room temperature, muscat wine and honey. So makes a soft dough worked with hands; if it is necessary add water at room ambient, just enough to soften the dough.  Divide it in loafs with a circumference of about 20 cm and length as the trays. Bake loafs for about 30 minutes (they will be ready when the crust is golden). Once cooked, let cool loafs for about 10 minutes, then cut into slices about 1 cm thicks. Put again Piparelle in oven, yet hot but turned off, until they become cold. This step gives the characteristic crispness.

Piparelle are the perfect biscuits for who loves the taste of almonds and the scent of honey and citrus fruits. I suggest you to dim them in a little glass of liqueur wine, like Moscato, Passito and Marsala, after meals. But who doesn't like this kind of dessert wine, can dim them in milk at breakfast, in tea in the afternoon or eat them natural during all hours oh the day.

Doses for a kilogram

- 1 kilogram of superfine flour (00 Italian Flour)
- 30 grams/1,05 oz of sugar
- 200 grams/7 oz of honey, preferably Orange honey
- 130 grams/4,6 oz of lard
- 30 grams/1,05 of baking soda
- 100 grams/3,5 oz of almonds with the peel
- mandarin (or organe or lemone) -peel (of 1 fruit)
- half a glass of Moscato wine
- half tablespoon of powder cinnamon

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Maccheroni alla Norma

Maccheroni alla Norma is a traditional and all over dish of Sicilian cuisine, but Catania is strictly the place of origin. 

There are many variations of this recipe wich relate to the cheese to be used and the preparation of the sauce. 

My recipe requires the use of tomato sauce cooked with a clove of garlic and smoked ricotta cheese

Also I suggest you use large and round aubergines, not those small or elongated.

First remove the beginning and the ending of the aubergines after cut these into slices, not too thin. Then arrange in layers them in a colander and sprinkle with salt each layer. Leave like for about half an hour. After this time wash quickly and dry well the slices (this process is to eliminate aubergines bitter aftertaste). Fry slices in extravirgin olive oil until they are golden brown and, finished cooking, put them in a plate taking care to dry oil you will seem in excess with a paper towel. Now cut your slices into strips not too small and set aside.


Meanwhile pour the tomato sauce in a saucepan, add half a glass of water, a clove of garlic and basil leaves. Make cook the sauce until it will seem very substantial (it must not be liquid !!!), remove the garlic and season with salt. Almost the end of cooking  add a little oil, always extravirgin olive oil, and let cook a few minutes more. Meanwhile grate the smoked ricotta cheese.




Put a pot on the gas with water and abundant salt to cook pasta. For the cooking time of maccheroni follow the time indicated on the package. When pasta is ready, drain it well, add  the tomato sauce (taking care that it is hot), the strips oh aubergines, abundant grated ricotta cheese and, finally, basil leaves.



I suggest you combine maccheroni alla Norma with a still white, chilled, or a good red wine. This recipe is ideal for vegetarian friends which want to enjoy a genuine and tasty dish.

Doses for 4 people:

- 400 grams/14 oz  of maccheroni
- 2 big and round aubergines
- 150 grams/5 oz of grated smoked ricotta cheese
- 1 tomato sauce bottle (500 grams/1 lb 2 oz)
- 1 clove of garlic
- basil (preferable big leaves quality)
- salt and ground black pepper
- extravirgin olive oil

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