Taralli con pepe

Ingredients (This recipe should be cut in half the first time if learning and works easily)

5 lb of sifted flour
7 Teaspoons salt
4 Teaspoons fennel seeds
¾ Cup oil
4½ Cups of warm water
1½ Teaspoon black pepper
1 Yeast cake (softened into a paste)

Preparation

Dissolve yeast into warm water, let stand 5 minutes. Dissolve salt in the water. Put flour in large bawl, add ingredients, and mix well. Kneed 100 times. Let rest 15 minutes.

Roll into long sausage like length and cut into finger-sized pieces. Roll each "finger" and form into pretzel like shapes, twists, braids, or just plain donut shapes. All pieces should be about the same size so they will finish equally.

Boil & Bake

Drop each piece in boiling water, which will settle to the bottom of the pot. The pot should be good enough in size so that the pieces are relatively free of each other. After a short time, the pieces will start floating. Skim them from the water and set aside. After all are boiled, bake in a 350 to 375 degree oven on the wire rack. Remove them when they are a light brown in color.

Serve

Offer the Taralli as a cocktail item. They go extremely well with mixed drinks, or wine

Recipe by Carmine Gallo