Taralli are a type of flour-based breadstick twisted into a circle and cooked until crispy. There are many different kinds, and you can usually find them in the deli sections of higher-end grocery stores and co-ops. Our local Mississippi Market co-op has several varieties.
Taralli can be simply baked, boiled, then baked, or less commonly, fried. This recipe calls for a simple bake.
This recipe is based on what I now believe to be a partially flawed recipe by Claudia Fleming. I’ll note in the recipe where you’d need to add some water to get the dough to come together. Also note with the various rise times, preparation and baking, these take about 4 hours to make—though most of it is just rise time.
Regardless of the taralli recipe you use and how you cook them, they’re a nice snack when you want something different from crackers.
What you’ll need for the sponge
- 0.5t sugar
- 0.5t active dry yeast
- 56g (6.5T) all-purpose flour
Taralli dough
- 226g (1.5 cups + 2T) all-purpose flour
- 40g Parmesan cheese, finely grated (I almost feel you could use double this amount for more flavor)
- 1.5t ground black pepper (could be increased to 2t for more flavor)
- 0.5t Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 0.25 cups + 1.5T dry white wine
- 0.25 cups + 1T extra-virgin olive oil
- large egg-white, beaten
What to do
For the sponge: in a small bowl, dissolve the sugar in 3T of 105-degree F water. Mix in the yeast. Let the yeast activate over the next 10 minutes. Mix in the 56g of flour a little at a time until you basically have a small bowl of dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place to rise for 1 hour. It should double in size.
When the sponge is nearly risen, start on the taralli dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, Parmesan, pepper and salt. Install the paddle attachment. With the mixer on “mix” gradually pour in the wine and olive oil.
Here’s where the original recipe went off the rails by calling for adding the risen sponge into the stand mixer bowl a little at a time. This is impossible. The sponge is a completely sticky, gooey mess, so if you try to add a little at a time, the sponge will be stuck on your spoon, fingers, the paddle attachment—everywhere but in the bowl. To avoid this, turn off the mixer and using a flexible spatula-scraper, scoop the sponge out of its bowl and into the stand-mixer bowl. Mix on medium speed for a minute before switching to the dough hook.
Here’s where the original recipe went off the rails again. At this point, the “dough” will be too dry for the flour and ingredients to coalesce. To rectify this, with the mixer running at medium, add 1T of water at a time until a cohesive dough forms. Once that happens, knead the dough at high speed for a couple of minutes until the dough is smooth. Put the dough ball into a large, oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and set it in a warm spot in the kitchen for 1 hour.
Now it’s time to roll out and shape the taralli. Line a couple of sheet pans with parchment paper. Put the dough ball on a lightly-floured work surface and flatten it out with your hands until it’s about 0.75” thick. I had shaped mine into a rough rectangle, which worked well. Using a pizza cutter, cut the flattened dough into strips about 0.75” wide. One at a time, take each strip of dough and roll it between your hand and the work surface until it’s about as thick as a pencil. Cut the long roll into 4” lengths. Pinch the ends together to form a circular shape. Put the rings onto the parchment paper, spaced a bit apart. They’ll rise some before and during baking, but not too much. When all the taralli are formed and on the sheet pans, cover them with plastic wrap and let them proof for an hour in a warm part of the kitchen until they’re puffy.
With 15 minutes left in the final proofing, begin heating your oven to 350 degrees F. When the taralli are proofed and the oven has reached temperature, brush the taralli with the egg wash and put them in the oven. Bake for about 25 minutes, turning them 180 degrees in your oven about halfway through the baking time. When they’re just golden, turn off the oven and let them sit in there for another 30 minutes to dry. Be careful! They’re likely to still be really hot even 30 minutes after the oven’s off.
Your taralli should keep a week in a sealed container.
