Limoncello Biscotti (a variation on a Villa Delia Recipe)

For all of you who have followed my traveling escapades, you’ll know that I have taken cooking classes in Italy on two separate occasions. Marietta, the chef at Villa Delia, makes wonderful biscotti with marsala wine. I decided to tweak her recipe(since I was out of Marsala) and prepare it with limoncello and the results were terrific. l have converted all the metric measures to ounces and cups for my State side followers.

For this recipe you will need three baking sheets (or more oven time), parchment paper, a sharp knife to cut through the whole almonds, a zester, a big enough surface to mix the dough -allow 24" square,and a willingness to get your hands sticky!

Biscotti

7 ½ Cups + 1 Tbsp all purpose flour

2 ½ Cups sugar

½ lb. (2 sticks) + 1 Tbsp butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

5 Ex large eggs

2 Tsp. baking soda

zest of one good-sized lemon

⅓ Cup limoncello

pinch of salt

2 Cups whole skin on almonds

1. Dump the flour on a flat surface and make a well(a big hole in the center). 
2. Add butter, sugar, and extract to the well and mix the sugar mixture together with your hands until it starts to blend. 
3. Combine the eggs, baking soda, zest of the lemon, limoncello, salt, and almonds and start slowly to incorporate the flour into the mixture.(See photo above). It starts out as a very messy project but soon you’ll feel the shape of the dough emerge.The warmth of you hand will form the dough .
4. Once you have a nice ball. Let rest for 30 minutes.
5. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
6. Cut into 9 equal pieces.(I use a scale to measure but without a scale you can do it by eye.)
7. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 3 baking trays with parchment
8. Roll each section into a log 15-18" long. Place 3 logs on each tray. Repeat with remaining sections.
9. Bake for 15 minutes until golden . Let sit for 5 minutes and cut each log into 1/2 pieces on the diagonal- the bigger the angle the larger the finished biscotti.You need to “cut with conviction to get through the almonds- a sharp knife also helps.
10. LOWER oven temperature to 200°F.Bake for 35-45 minutes until firm.