Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Panpepato - Peppered Bread


This is panpepato. A peppered bread from Italy. I admit that I had never heard of it until I stumbled across a recipe in an old Delicious magazine. I was on a search for foodie inspiration and I found it.

Marsala and raisins and figs and cocoa. That on its own is enticing. Add the unusual twist of pepper and then serve it with sharp cheese. How could I not try it. My mum packed little tubs of diced dried apricots, cheese and sultanas in my school lunchbox. I've never considered the dried fruit on a cheese board to be a garnish.

This panpepato recipe is pretty simple. Mine came out much softer and stickier than I think it should be. It was not particularly breadlike. Maybe more flour next time. The consistency didn't subtract from the taste though. I loved it.

The original recipe uses walnuts, which I loathe. So I used almonds instead. I also think it could stand more pepper as it comes across as quite a subtle hot aftertaste if you see what I mean. It's really a matter of taste.

The recipe calls for it to be served with crumbled parmesan reggiano. But really it goes perfectly with any sharp dry cheese. I have served it here with a sheeps milk cheese. I would give you the name if only I knew it. I buy it at the farmer's market from a refrigerated van stall run by an elderly gentlemen with a strong eastern european accent. Every time I ask what it is but I have never managed to catch it yet. I think it starts with a C or a K. Not much help I know. All I can tell you is that it goes perfectly and is delicious.

Panpepato
(adapted from Delicious Magazine May 2005)

Soak 1/2 cup raisins in 1/4 cup dry marsala overnight. Place raisins and soaking liquid in a bowl and add 200g of toasted almonds, 1 tspn of cinnamon, 50g of chopped dried figs, 100g of chopped candied peel and 1 tspn of ground black pepper. Sift over 1/3 cup flour and 11/2 tbspn of cocoa.

Melt 2 tbspn of unsalted butter over low heat together with 150gm of caster sugar and 4 tbspn of honey. Mix into dry ingredients.

Pour mixture into a lined 8cm x 25cm bar pan or 20cm round tin and flatten. Bake in a 150C oven for 20 minutes. Cool completely and slice thinly. Serve with parmesan reggiano or another sharp dry cheese.

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3 Comments:

At 10:55 pm, Blogger Joanna said...

Sounds FABULOUS

Joanna
joannasfood.blogspot.com

 
At 9:26 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I really like the sound of this. Maybe i will try it.

 
At 8:25 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The name would suggest a type of bread but if you are italian like...me, you'd know that panpepato is definitely a sweet thing.
In my family recipe you have walnut, almond, hazelnut, pine nuts, dried fig, raisins, candied orange peel, honey, of course dark chocolat, and some flour. The flour is there only to hold the mixture together. My sister dislikes completely the candied orange peel. I love it. So, you can pick and choose the ingredients and still have a delicious holiday sweet thing.

 

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