Pizzelle

These crisp cookies are a popular sweet in Abruzzo for celebratory events. They are light, simple, and delicious and are a great accompaniment to gelato or sorbet—or on their own, with a platter of ripe summer fruits. Pizzelle can be made several days ahead and kept in a sealed plastic container until serving, though dust with the confectioner’s sugar at the last minute.

Yield

Makes about 18 (4-inch) pizzelle

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder ¼ teaspoon kosher salt 3 large eggs ¾ cup sugar 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract ½ teaspoon anise or almond extract 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled Vegetable-oil cooking spray Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting

Recipe

Preheat your pizzelle iron. Stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla and anise in a large bowl until smooth and slightly foamy. Stir in the flour mixture just to combine. Stir in the melted butter just until the batter is smooth; don’t overmix. (The batter will be thick.)

Lightly spray the preheated pizzelle iron with cooking spray. Dollop about 2 tablespoons batter into each mold and close the lid. Cook until the pizzelle are golden, about 1 minute. Transfer to a rack to cool and crisp. Repeat with the remaining batter. Break off any rough edges. When ready to serve, dust the cooled pizzelle with confectioner’s sugar.

KEEPING IT LIGHT:

Healthy Pairings

Cooking healthy meals for ourselves and our families doesn’t have to mean forsaking any of the pleasure. It just means getting to know and cooking ingredients we may not be as familiar with and pairing our more substantial foods like meats and pasta with plenty of vegetables and fruits.

Take whole grains, for example. Ancient grains like farro and barley, some of the world’s first cultivated foods, are rich in fiber and protein and they have wonderful nutty flavors and chewy textures. They also have the firmness needed to stand up to a salad, as in the recipe on the following pages. With the idea of healthy pairings in mind, I combined the barley with a lean protein (in this case chicken), and a generous portion of fresh vegetables and a beautifully tart giardiniera to make a satisfying and balanced one-dish meal.

To keep things light with meats, I often choose pork loin chops (a leaner cut) that I either brine first or salt before grilling, which helps keep the meat tender. Bone-in chops have a bit more fat around the bone, which gives them a meatier flavor and also helps keep the meat from drying out while cooking. Then I follow the lead of cooks in EmiliaRomagna, who pair the grilled pork chops with a fruitfilled mostarda, the Italian sweet-and-sour, chutney-like preserves. In our issue 3 of the magazine we shared a peachand-cherry mostarda, and here I’ve combined the sweetness of plums and dried apricots with the pleasant bite of red onion. Use any leftover mostarda on your next cheeseboard; it pairs equally well with ripe and mild cheeses.