Sicilian Easter | All Things Sicilian and more

Recipes for rabbit and chicken consistently generate reader interest especially around Easter. This Ragusa, Sicily-style rabbit recipe coincides with the Easter season in Australia and is always popular.

For those who do not camp, rabbit is a suitable Easter recipe. Alternatively, home cooks are increasingly appreciating these traditional recipes for rustic meats.

My last blog post was a recipe for rabbit:

SICILIAN CUNNIGHIU (RABBIT) AS COOKED IN RAGUSA, ‘A PORTUISA

But here’s the question I often get: Is rabbit considered a suitable Easter dish in Australia?

The answer is yes, but rabbit is not as common or inexpensive as it once was. If you find rabbit hard to source or expensive, you can easily substitute chicken in any of the rabbit recipes below, and vice versa. The flavours and techniques are quite adaptable.

The photos of some of my Sicilian dishes show how popular rabbit and chicken are in Sicilian cuisine.

This post has links for many of my favourite Italian rabbit, hare and chicken recipes that are already on my blog, as well as a few recipes for an Italian Easter that include kid, lamb and pies that are very common in Ragusa, Sicily.

Cooking with the Seasons

One thing that always fascinates me is how the seasons influence our cooking -especially when comparing Italy and Australia. While Italians are celebrating Easter in spring with tender lamb or kid, fresh artichokes, spring greens, and creamy ricotta that is at its best in spring, we in Australia are in autumn.

Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi voi.

This is a common Italian saying that seems appropriate for Australia as well. Whether that’s friends, neighbours, or family, Easter is a time to gather around good food, and that’s what these recipes are all about.

Easter in Ragusa, Sicily

If you happen to be in Ragusa with some of my relatives in Sicily, you might celebrate Easter casually with family and friends, sharing scacce or impanate -delicious pastries filled with vegetables or vegetables and meat wrapped in a golden, olive-oil pastry. (You’ll find links to my recipes for those below!)

If you decide to substitute rabbit for chicken in a recipe, just remember:

Rabbit is leaner and may need a little extra moisture while cooking.

Cook it longer and more gently — slow braises bring out its unique flavour.

Ponte Rosso, Trieste

And if you wish to be in Trieste:

Traditional Easter Sweets in Trieste in Friuli Venezia Giulia

Pasqua is Easter, and this is celebrated with traditional Sicilian sweets, particularly Cassata and the Agnellino Pasquale (the Pascal Lamb). These small lambs are often made of marzipan but can also be crafted from other ingredients.

POLLOZZI GENEROSA, Sicily

Polizzi Generosa is in the Madonie Mountains. The drive through the mountains on a foggy day was quite unsettling. The township is perched at ~900m with stunning valley views. ancient charm, Norman churches, artisanal food especially pastries.

Below is the photo of a small pasticceria in Polozzi Generosa, in the Madonie Mountains, not that far from Palermo. I have misplaced the photos of the pascal lambs I found in this shop, but they were beautiful.

Pasticceria Al Castello in Piazza Castello was recommended to me because it was reputed to make the best Sicilian pastry. Their authentic and tradition use of quality Sicilian ingredients – fillings made with tuma (fresh cheese), glacé candied fruit, fresh local nuts especially hazelnuts.

I did buy a few things there to take to relatives who were on my schedule to visit, but unfortunately I have no photos!

* I looked this up recently to recommend to a traveller, and it is now listed as permanently closed.

Polizzi pasticcieria sign_3549 — Pasticceria in Polozzi Generosa, Sicily.

Agnellino pasquale (Pascal LambS)

These Pascal lambs in the photo below are from Dolcetti, an excellent Pastry shop on Victoria Street in Melbourne. marianna, the pastry chef is of Sicilian Heritage.

Hers are made of Marzipan.

In Sicily, the traditional pascal lambs (agnellini pasquali) are made with marzipan, however I have found a recipe for making the lamb out of pasta garofolata (dough flavoured with cloves/ cloves are chiodi di garofano in Italian).

This same dough is used to make ossa dei morti (bones of the dead, customary Nov1st/ 2nd, the day of the Dead/ All saints Day).

Here is another version from a different Pasticceria in Sicily. This one is made of the dough used to make the traditional, Sicilian almond biscuits.

For those of you who may wish to try making a pascal lamb (could be fun to make with children), here is the recipe from:

RECIPE from Culinaria Italy, Claudia Piras, 2004:

Pasta Garofolata per Ossa Dei Morti o Agnellini Pasquali

Ingredients

2 pounds sugar — (approximately 1 kg)

2 pounds all-purpose flour — (approximately 1 kg)

10 whole cloves — ground

Almond oil

Method

In a saucepan, bring the sugar to the boil in a little water. When the sugar is dissolved, lower the heat and sift in the flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, being careful that no lumps form. The flour MUST NOT be allowed to brown, it must stay snow white.Stir in the powdered cloves.

Once everything is thoroughly mixed and the flour is nice and white, remove from the heat.

As soon as it has cooled down enough to be handled make little bone shapes or lambs out of the dough.

Alternatively, if you have appropriately shaped moulds you can brush them with a little almond oil and fill with the dough.

Leave for a few days in a dry place. Remove from the molds if you used

them.

Brush the undersides with water, place on a baking sheet and bake in

a preheated 350F (180C) oven. When the sugar has risen and turned the

distinctive colour of a monk’s habit, the cookies are ready.

NB. There are many recipes for making ossa dei morti; many use almond meal and egg white (marzipan).

CASSATA

In Sicily, the dessert has to be cassata – not the Neapolitan one made with ice cream, but with ricotta, and Sicilians use sheep’s milk ricotta because they can.

Each time I make a cassata it always looks different, but they always taste good. on occasions I have even made made marzipan with pistachio nuts – it can be a long process peeling off any of their flaky skins!

I always cover the cassata with marzipan.

A slice of cassata

RECIPE FOR Glassa (fondant)

In pastry shops many cassate are covered with glassa (fondant):

There are many recipes where icing sugar is melted in water over a stove and then poured over the cassata – I find this too hard to work with and far too sweet. The following fondant is much easier to work with:

Fondant:
Beat 1 egg white till stiff, add 350 g of icing sugar (which has been infused with a vanilla bean). Add juice of one lemon and a few drops of green colouring. Beat till smooth. Spread over cassata. Many pasticcerie use white and green fondant.

Cassata decorated with fondant and glacé fruit.

To make cassata, see 2 different posts:
Cassata
Cassata 2

PASTA DI MANDORLA (How to make Marzipan recipe)

MARZAPANE also called Pasta Reale (Marzipan)

Tag: Sicilian Easter

RABBIT, CHICKEN and Easter recipes

Rabbit and hare recipes:

Chicken recipes:

Easter food, Ragusa, Sicily:

Other Sicilian Easter dishes:

And if you wish to be in Trieste:

Like this:

PASQUA, Traditional sweets, Cassata Siciliana, Agnellino pasquale (Pascal Lamb)

POLLOZZI GENEROSA, Sicily

Pasta Garofolata per Ossa Dei Morti o Agnellini Pasquali

CASSATA

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