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Writer's pictureDestination Abruzzo

The most popular cookies in Abruzzo: Pizzelle AKA ferratelle or neole!

Call them pizzelle, ferratelle or neole the name varies from the different Abruzzo provinces but we are talking about the same delicious yet famous abruzzese traditional cookies.

According to history, the first pizzelle cookies were made in Abruzzo back in the 8th century.

They get their shape by flattening the batter by using a specific "iron machine" tecnically called

"Il ferro".




The type of "ferro" used is very important and determines the type of pizzelle you'll get.

The classic ones are thin and crispy but the other version you can make are the waffle style ones, thicker and softer.


The traditional family's recipe from the Pescara province handed down from generation to generation is the following one, and since this recipe comes precisely from the Pescara province, we're going to refer to them as neole:


Recipe to get about 40 crispy neole:


3 eggs

6 tablespoons of sugar

6 tablespoons of seed oil

a bit of grated lemon

300 g of flour


Process:


Put the eggs, sugar, oil and the lemon peel in a bowl and mix with a hand whisk. Incorporate the flour, stirring with a wooden spoon.


In the meantime, put the iron typical for Ferratelle to heat on the medium stove (if you are using the authentic traditional iron) for about ten minutes, otherwise turn on the modern one to heat and wait until ready. Grease the inner surface of the iron with a little oil and pour a teaspoon of batter at the center. Close the iron and cook for 30 seconds per side or until golden brown.


Repeat the procedure with the rest of the batter.


Once done and cooled down, you can enjoy them plain or spread them with your favorite jam or use nutella, for all the chocolate lovers.


This, instead is the thicker and softer version called neole morbide in Pescara.


 

Recipe to get about 20 soft neole:


3 eggs

3 tablespoons of sugar

3 tablespoons of seed oil

3 tablespoons of flour

a bit of grated lemon

1/2 bag of yeast powder for cookies


The Process is the same as the one above for the crispy pizzelle, the only difference will be on the Iron used. You would need the specific one that has deeper grooves in order to get the ticker shape.

Filled them or have them plain as you like.


ENJOY this simple yet delicious heritage of Abruzzo!




P.s. the Neole or NeVole are considered a different cookie version in the Province of Chieti, see pic below.


The dark color come from the use of "Mosto Cotto" as ingredient.
The Nevole from the province of Chieti are the darker colored ones on top.

We are going to tlk about their recipe soon in another blog post!

Stay tuned!


 

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