Stroscia

5 minutes prep 30 minutes active cooking 35 minutes total

Makes 6 - 8 servings

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When my mom made pie...

she’d roll out the scraps of dough, sprinkle them with sugar, and bake them for snacks to keep us away from the pie. The ancient Ligurian pastry called stroscia (stroh-sha) reminds me of those crispy pie dough treats. Legend has it that the women of the mountain village of Pietrabruna created stroscia to celebrate the hamlet’s patron saint. In the 5th century both eggs and dairy were forbidden during Lent, so they combined flour, olive oil, sugar, and fortified wine to make a simple dessert. Stiff and crumbly like any short crust, it became known as stroscia from the local dialect verb strosciare, which means to break.

The modern versions use vermouth for a little extra flavor, and it’s worth searching out good whole wheat flour since it also improves the taste. The ingredients mix in the food processor, and you press the dough onto a baking sheet by hand, so it’s quick and easy to make. I like to eat stroscia plain with coffee, or sometimes with a little dab of jam. It’s also good crumbled onto yogurt or ice cream.

What You'll Need

Ingredients

For the shopping list

2 cups of whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
Cold water as needed

From our shop

1/8 teaspoon of Italian Fine Sea Salt
$7.00– Trapani - Sicily

Out of stock

1 1/4 cup of Madre Terra
$29.00– Sicily - Italy

1/2 cup of P. Quiles Vermouth Rojo
$32.00– Alicante - Spain

*substitute any sweet vermouth

Out of stock

To serve Marmellata di Arance
$9.00– Portland - Oregon

(optional)

Equipment

From the kitchen

1 Food Processor
1 Sheet Pan
Measuring Cups
Measuring Spoons

Sebastiano's

Learn more about Sebastiano's, and how owners Elise and Dan Gold are bringing a slice of Sicilian sunshine to the rainy Pacific Northwest.

What you'll have to do

Step 1

Heat the oven to 350F. Put 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in the food processor. Blitz for a few seconds to mix.

Step 2

Add 1 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/2 cup vermouth, blitz for about 30 seconds or until the dough begins to hold together. Add a little water a tablespoon at a time if the dough seems too crumbly. It should resemble pie dough.