Brutti ma Buoni

I decided to make some of my favorite cookies that come from the Lazio region of Italy, but first a very brief lesson on Italy.
 Italians are not necessarily nationalistic, but they are extremely regionalistic.  They have immense pride for where in Italy they come from, and rightfully so.  There are vast differences between North and South that range from climate differences all the way to the languages they speak.  There are hundreds of dialects spoken throughout Italy that even native Italians from one region can't necessarily understand someone speaking dialect from another region.  It may also shock most people to find out that Italian was only named the official language of Italy in 2007!!  Aside from language, another distinguishing characteristic of a region is the cuisine they produce.  A major source of pride in ones region comes from the food found in that area.  The most commonly known example of this is the creamy sauces of the North compared to the tomato-based sauces of the South.

My family is from the Lazio region, more specifically Rome.  I wanted to bake a cookie from Lazio called "brutti ma buoni", which means "ugly but good".   They are delicious and so so so simple to make!  I used a recipe I found in Food & Wine Magazine where they toured around Frascati in Lazio and got a recipe from a bakery I actually have been to for these cookies.  I didn't change anything because I am a strong believer in "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups hazelnuts
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
the white from a large egg lightly beaten

Instructions:
1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2) Spread out the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes or until fragrant.
3) Remove the nuts from the oven and wrap in a kitchen towel.  Let them sit 5 minutes to steam off the skin and then rub them in the towel so the skins fall off.
4) Place the powdered sugar, nuts and salt in a food processor and pulse until the nuts are a little chunky.
5) Mix the sugar-nut mixture with the egg white and vanilla until fully incorporated.
6) Place dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet in tablespoon sized rounds one inch apart.
7) Bake 10 minutes for chewier cookies or 15 for harder ones.
8) When you remove them from the oven they will have spread out a bit and crackled.  You can gently push them a little more together while they are still hot.  Allow to cool fully on the cookie sheet before moving them.