AN ADVENT LUNCH

With the holiday tomorrow, everyone is now getting festive in Sicily and I am feeling rather smug because I have already decorated. In glorious sunshine, off I went for lunch with Linda, Chiara, Gino and relatives and what a feast we had, with 2 pasta dishes and 2 main courses being served: first, "auntie" Maria had made fresh cappelletti ["little hats"] pasta in vegetable brodo [the pasta being filled with a beef and parmesan mixture]; then there was Linda's pasta al forno; next came that classic of Sicilian cooking, pollo ripieno [boned chicken stuffed with a veal, pancetta and cheese mixture] in this case made by Maria. I was really thinking that I couldn't eat any more but then Linda's dish of sausages and polpette appeared and it looked much too good to miss out on! For dessert we partook of the sweetest citrus fruit you ever smelt or tasted and to accompany the Moscato and coffee there were almond biscuits made by Linda and Chiara. They dispatch parcels of these on a regular basis to lucky relatives in lands near and far and here is their recipe:

Almond biscuits
400 gr sugar
400 gr [preferably fresh] blanched, ground almonds
3 egg whites
grated rind 1 unwaxed lemon
coffee beans / candied peel / rindy bits of marmalade to decorate

Mix the almonds, sugar and lemon rind together. Add the egg whites and mix to a dough. If you are using fresh almonds which you have blanched and ground yourself you will probably find that the oil from them is enough to bind the dough. If you are using bought ground almonds you may have to add some lemon juice. Leave the mixture in the fridge overnight. Form the mixture into little balls with your fingers and place them on oven trays lined with baking parchment, then decorate. Bake for 5 - 10 minutes in a 200 C oven / 180 C fan oven. [Watch them carefully.]

Happy baking!