Editor’s Note: Jennifer Felicia Abadi travels whenever possible, especially to Israel and its surrounding countries, studying foods, languages, and cultures. A Fistful of Lentils is her recipe book, based upon her Syrian Jewish heritage.
Recipe: Ka’ik ib’Fis’dok (Flourless Pistachio Cookies)
This dessert is perfect for Passover since there is no flour in the recipe and the pistachios are a nice change from the usual almonds in pastries. For real pistachio lovers, serve a scoop of green pistachio ice cream with a pistachio cookie or two dipped in it.
Makes 1 to 1 ½ dozen cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1⁄2 cups shelled, unsalted pistachios
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 to 2 teaspoons orange blossom water (optional), to taste
- 3⁄4 cup granulated sugar confectioners’ sugar for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300° F. Place the pistachios in a food processor and blend until finely ground. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed with an electric hand-held mixer until stiff peaks form. If you decide to add the orange blossom water, fold it into the beaten egg whites at this point. Gently pour the sugar over the stiff egg whites and fold in with a wooden spoon. Add the ground pistachios and fold in with the wooden spoon until fully mixed into the egg white mixture.
- One tablespoon at a time, place the pistachio “dough” on a greased baking sheet, leaving 1 inch between the cookies. Bake until lightly golden around the edges, about 15 minutes.
- Allow to cool for 30 minutes before removing from the sheet or the cookies may break apart too easily. (You may freeze the cookies at this point by placing them between layers of wax paper and tightly sealing inside a plastic container. They will last for up to 3 weeks. When ready to serve, remove each layer of cookies on the wax paper and place on the countertop to defrost for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and serve.) Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with confectioners’ sugar and serve on a decorative platter with pistachio or vanilla ice cream (or with sorbet) and shay b’naan’na (Mint Tea).
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Passover begins the evening of Monday, April 14, 2014 and ends the evening of Tuesday, April 22
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