From Dino and Micol, Rustico Cooking...

We are so looking forward to a fabulous week in Italy with you all next year!

We have been putting the finishing touches on restaurant menus, contacting chefs and food artisans to orchestrate memorable gastronomic adventures like a licorice tasting in Calabria, making burrata by hand in Puglia, tasting small batch artisanal chocolates in Liguria, and visiting an award-winning chocolatier in Tuscany. We can hardly wait to share these unique experiences with you!  

In the meantime, we wish you and all your loved ones a safe and sweet holiday season. Let’s hope that 2022 brings us all good health, peace, and togetherness. And perhaps you can sweeten the end of the year with a batch of Dino’s favorite jam-filled butter cookies… The recipe is below, and we’d love to know if you try it!

Happy holidays and all the best in the new year!

Micol and Dino

Jam-Filled Butter and Pecan Cookies

Makes 24 cookies

115 grams (4 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
70 grams (2.5 ounces) sugar
1 large egg, separated
5 milliliters (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
5 milliliters (1 teaspoon) finely grated lemon zest
130 grams (4.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 gram (¼ teaspoon) salt
130 grams (4.5 ounces) finely chopped pecans
130 grams (1/2 cup) warm strawberry or apricot jam

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees convection or 350 degrees regular.
2. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sugar with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and lemon zest, and beat well to incorporate. Stir in the flour and salt until incorporated. The dough should come together; knead gently on the counter for a few seconds until the dough forms a nice smooth mass, but do not overwork the dough or the cookies will be tough.
4. In a small bowl, beat the egg white just until it turns foamy with a fork. Spread the pecans out on a plate.
5. Shape the dough into 1-inch (2.5-centimeter) balls by rolling it quickly between your hands. Roll each ball in the egg white first, coating well, and then in the pecans. Arrange on the prepared baking sheets at least 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) apart (the cookies will spread as they bake, so leave them room to expand or they will stick together).
6. Bake in the preheated oven 5 minutes, or until just starting to set. Remove from the oven and, using the handle of a large wooden spoon (or your thumb), make a light indentation in the center of each cookie. The cookies will flatten slightly as you press on them.
7. Return the cookies to the oven and bake 15 more minutes, or until golden.
8. Meanwhile, warm the jam in a small pot over medium heat until it liquefies. Using a small spoon, drop a bit of warm jam in the indentation you have made in each cookie. Cool the cookies to room temperature and store in airtight tins up to 1 week.