The Italian Country Table

The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens by Lynne Rossetto Kasper, copyright 1999
Torta della Befana, page 356
Prepared on January 6, 2008

The Italian Country Table provides a great overview of Italian country cooking. As opposed to The Splendid Table, Kasper's encyclopedic Emilia-Romagnian cookbook , The Italian Country Table is full of simply-prepared, interesting and toothsome dishes.

January 6 is the day of Epiphany and is also the Day of the Befana. The Befana is a witch who brings little Italian children presents (left in their stockings) if they have been good. If they've been bad they get coal.

I made one modification to the recipe: I made two smaller turnovers instead of the one large turnover Kasper specifies in the recipe.

First, I made the pastry dough and put it in the refrigerator to chill. Then I prepared the filling, but chopping up apples and combining them with raisins, candied citron, sugar and spices (including ground black pepper!).

I rolled the dough out into two 8" circles and put the filling into one half of each circle. I baked the turnovers at 400 until golden brown.

These were a little like a traditional apple turnover, but the addition of citron and raisins made it something a little outside the ordinary. This was a great recipe and one I'll go back to again. I think the filling would be great in a traditional apple pie format too.