Fiadonetti Zia Licia: Italian Easter Recipes from TIK

There are lots of traditional Easter recipes from around the world when it comes to the annual Easter meal. If you’re looking for Easter recipes inspired by Italy, look no further than fiadoni, a dessert that originally hails from the region of Molise. Or, if you’d rather have smaller versions of this half-mooned shaped pastry similar to a cheesecake, then it’s called fiadonetti. There’s no one single recipe for this perfect meal-ending treat, and that’s largely because, similar to many Italian dishes, every family has their own version.

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You’ll know it’s their own based on the name of the dish. Just take this Easter recipe for Fiadonetti Zia Licia from our new Italy culinary vacation Authentic Abruzzo Cooking (Abruzzo is a region right next door to Molise, and Molise was in fact once a part of Abruzzo). Zia is Italian for Aunt, and as such it’s a family recipe that the owners of the agriturismo are graciously sharing with The International Kitchen and our guests.

Want to make this Easter dessert? Just follow this recipe! But don’t forget; many of these recipes aren’t written down and to truly learn them, we suggest a cooking vacation to Italy (and that also explains some of the ingredient instructions, like “a glass.”)

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Recipe for Fiadonetti

Prep time: 60 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Cook method: Bake
Serves: 15

Dough Ingredients

• 500 g (1 lb 1 oz) flour
• Packet of yeast
• Glass of milk
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Filling Ingredients

• 500 g (1 lb 1 oz) ricotta
• 4 eggs

Decoration Ingredients

• 2 egg yolks to brush over fiadonetti before baking

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Instructions: 
1. Put the flour on the table.
2. To the flour, add the yeast as well as the milk and oil. Work all of this together and then let it stand for at least an hour.
3. Next, roll out the dough and cut out the dough into discs.
4. Mix the filling ingredients, and then place the filling into the center of each disc.
5. Tighten the dough around the filling by pinching the edges.
6. Of the remaining dough, cut strips and cross them over the filling to form. (Alternatively, rather than cutting the discs out of the dough, place the dough over an entire baking sheet, then cover the dough with ricotta, and then cut out as ravioli).
7. Place on a greased baking sheet and brush the fiadoni with the egg yolks.
8. Put everything in an oven set at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for about a half hour (or until the desserts turn a golden brown).

Want to learn more traditional Italian Easter recipes? Visit Marino and Elida on their beautiful agriturismo for an Abruzzo cooking vacation.

By Liz Hall

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