This traditional Mantuan bread is one of the many hard breads made in the Po Valley with quite dry dough. Ricciolino falls into this category, a dry, crunchy bread often eaten with lard and oil. It is made by hand, rolling the dough to form a bow with two ties. The taste is quite sweet and buttery.
Ingredients for the dough
1kg fine flour
lemon rind
250g butter
pumpkin and/or raisins (optional)
1 egg yolk
white wine
Method
Using a pastry board, make the dough using the flour, softened butter, yolk, lemon rind, pumpkin and/or raisins (optional). Add a cup of white wine while kneading the dough. Once the dough is uniform and soft, form the dough into pieces about 5-10cm long and 3-5cm wide. Roll these around themselves, joining two and two together by pushing down with the fingers and knuckles to obtain a bow shaped loaf. Leave to rise for at least an hour. Bake for about 20-25 minutes at 210-230°C. Leave to cool.