Cheddar Taralli

Updated at: Wed, 21 Aug 2024 16:10:32 GMT

Step 1

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix together the flour, cheddar, salt, and paprika. Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan until it’s hot and shimmering. Add a little of the hot oil to the ingredients in the mixer bowl, stir at low speed, then add a little more oil, stirring, until all the oil is added. While the mixer is running, gradually pour in the wine, stopping the mixer midway to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is getting mixed in.

Step 2

Turn the mixer to medium and knead the dough until the dough is very smooth and supple, about 5 minutes.

Step 3

Tip: If your dough is looking dry and not coming together midway during mixing, add another tablespoon of wine.

Step 4

Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap, or your favorite eco-friendly alternative, and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. While the dough is resting, line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Line another one with paper towels. Clear off some counter space to roll the Taralli out.

Step 5

Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC).

Step 6

Fill a wide saucepan halfway with water and add some salt to it, as if you were salting water for pasta. Bring it to a boil. Unwrap the dough and pinch off a piece of dough about the size of a small walnut and roll the dough on an unfloured countertop until it’s about 4 inches (10cm) long. Loop it around your finger in a circle, or whatever feels easiest for you to make a circle, and pinch the end closed a little bit. With your fingers inside the circle, pull it open just a little more, then set the Taralli (or Tarallo?) on the counter and go on to the next one.

Step 7

When you’ve got about 15 Taralli, drop them into the pan of water. When they float to the top, after 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, with a slotted spoon or flat mesh strainer, remove the Taralli and put them on the paper towel–lined baking sheet in a single layer to drain. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, then go on and do the same, rolling, shaping, and parboiling the next batch of 15.

Step 8

When the Taralli on the baking sheet from the first batch are cool enough to handle, place them on one of the parchment-lined baking sheets about 1/2-inch (1,25cm) apart.

Step 9

Tips: If you leave the Taralli on the paper towels too long, they’ll stick a bit. I was able to easily remove any pieces of paper, but I found that taking them off the paper towel–lined baking sheet as soon as they were cool enough to handle and putting them on the parchment-lined baking sheet ensured they didn’t stick.

Step 10

I changed the salted water midway through parboiling the Taralli as it was quite cloudy and a little viscous from the flour.

Step 11

When you’ve got enough Taralli on a baking sheet, start baking them, rotating the baking sheet in the oven midway through baking for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown and they feel relatively firm when you squeeze one. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer the Taralli to a cooling rack.

Step 12

Tip: The original instructions said to bake for 30 to 40 minutes, “until light golden brown and crisp.” Mine looked like they were done around the 25-minute mark, but they really do need to be baked at least to the 30- to 35-minute mark to be done.

Step 13

Bake the rest of the Taralli the same way. Let cool completely before serving.

Step 14

Storage: Taralli will keep in an airtight container for up to one week.

Step 15

Tip: Mine softened a bit by the following day likely because we are having a humid spell here, and my airtight container wasn’t as airtight as I thought, although they were still delicious. I did ask Renato about that and he said they weren’t meant to be as hard and dry as store-bought taralli, but wanted them to taste as cheezy as possible. He suggested putting them back in the oven the following day for a bit if they lose their crispness.

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