It's no secret that I love coffee, but not just any coffee.

The rich, bitter coffee we know as espresso.

That little shot of heaven makes my day like just about no other thing I can think of.

And the best coffee in the world, in my humble opinion.

In Naples, baby.

Let's explore the world of Cafe today on Christina Cooks, the Macroterranean way.

Underwriting for Christina Cooks is provided by Suzanne's Specialties, offering a full line of alternative vegan and organic sweeteners and toppings.

Suzanne's Specialties, sweetness the way Mother Nature intended.

Jonathan's Spoons, individually handcrafted from cherry wood.

Each designed with your hand and purpose in mind.

Additional funding is also provided by.

(Speaking Italian) So, sorry.

I don't know what I was thinking.

Hi, I'm Christina Pirello, and this is Christina Cooks, where each week we take fresh seasonal ingredients and whip them into amazing dishes.

Will they all be plant based?

Yeah.

A lot in Italian?

Sure.

And will they be delicious?

You bet.

(Speaking Italian).

So when I was a kid, my nonna made the world's greatest--my husband would disagree because he thinks his nonna did the best.

But no, my nonna made the best, best biscotti.

Or she called them properly cantucci, which means horse hoof.

Right.

Because these are the crunchy wafer cookies, like wedges that you dip in coffee.

So we're going to make one today that's sweet and savory, very popular in Rome and in Naples to this day.

But it's an ancient recipe.

So first thing that goes into our mixing bowl is a half cup extra virgin olive oil.

So that's eight tablespoons if you're measuring by the tablespoon or a half cup if you're measuring by quarter cups, which is how I do it.

I measure it when I bake in a very sort of strange way in that I use very small measuring cups because I like the control that it gives me.

Don't ask.

It's a very long story and you don't want to hear it.

So that's eight tablespoons.

We're going to add to this two teaspoons of pure vanilla extract.

It should smell like vanilla perfume.

And two teaspoons gives this a nice sweetness because we are going to use some strong savory ingredients, as well.

Then we're going to add a quarter cup of brown rice syrup for sweetness, our first set of sweetness.

And if you use the cup that you put the oil in, it just comes right out.

It's amazing how that works.

Next, we add a half teaspoon of ground chia seed.

This is my egg and it's going to whip into the liquid ingredients and be amazing.

The next thing to go in is three tablespoons of water.

I do measure when I bake.

I mean, I'm not crazy measuring, but I do measure.

And the next thing to go in is six tablespoons, hardy tablespoons of coconut sugar, which is low glycemic sweetener, a pinch of salt.

Now, this doesn't get cinnamon or anything like that because this is your liquid ingredients, and because there's other ingredients that would compete with cinnamon--no cinnamon.

So this is going to go into a stand mixer and you're going to whip this until it's like creamy and goopy.

When this part of the dough has come together...now, we're going to add to this a half cup of fine, fine cornmeal.

Cornmeal is a really common ingredient in cookies, particularly in the south of Italy.

And then one and a half cups of...I'm using sprouted whole wheat flour because it digests in the body like a vegetable instead of a grain.

But you can also use whole wheat pastry.

It's fine.

Just don't use white flour.

You defeat the purpose of making a quote unquote healthy dessert.

Next goes two tablespoons of arrowroot.

And this is an essential ingredient that's going to make the biscotti crunchy.

You know, we eat biscotti.

We want that crunchiness.

Then goes in some fennel seed, not too many.

But this is going to give you..if you don't have fennel seed, use anise extract, it's fine.

Either one.

A teaspoon each baking powder in soda, so the cookies rise.

It doesn't matter.

The order in which you add the ingredients, now.

It really doesn't.

That's where I sort of veer away from other people the way they bake.

And this is chopped, fresh rosemary.

This gives the savory-ness to the cookie that is just crazy.

Now, starting on low so you don't have flour all over your kitchen.

You start to mix these ingredients together to create a stiff, sticky cookie dough.

Once the dough comes together, it'll seem really sticky and goopy.

You're going to stir in about half cup of slivered almonds and then just give it a quick mix just to get the almonds incorporated.

Now, a lot of people say you need to do this part by hand so you don't break the almonds, as we say in Italian, not importe.

Do whatever you want.

Then using a spatula, clean off your paddle.

You can see this is a really soft, sticky, sticky dough.

If it seems too sticky, like this one seems just a little too soft to me, you'll start to get a feel for it.

Add a tiny bit more flour, maybe a couple of tablespoons, because baking with a whole grain flour is like an Italian sportscar.

Some days it works.

Some days you got to mess around with it some more.

Now it's perfect.

So, now you're going to take it off the paddle.

Then using a spatula, you go in and you pull the dough to the center of the bowl.

It's very sticky, but these are such gorgeous biscotti.

You're not going to care how sticky the dough is.

Then on a piece of parchment, you dump it.

Sometimes it comes out, sometimes not so much.

But what you're trying to do is get all the batter out of the bowl onto your baking sheet.

Okay.

It's a bit of a workout.

Now you cut your dough in half roughly.

Don't get crazy.

Separated into two pieces.

You see, it's really sticky.

So now you're going to wet your hands and you're going to form each piece of the dough.

You're going to really kind of knead it in your hands because now you have to form the logs that become the biscotti.

And the way you do that is you take each log and you work it with your hands.

Once you have the logs formed, they need to be flat.

And as long as you can get them about 2 to 3 inches wide, these are going to go into the oven at 350 for 22 minutes.

So can somebody take this to the oven for me?

So Hogmanay, what...aren't you, the photographer?

What do you...what do you...where is everybody?

I think they're all busy doing other stuff.

Okay.

Could you take those to the oven for me then?

Yeah.

Thank you.

Remember, set the timer for 22 minutes.

After 22 minutes, ah, Carmine thank you.

You see how they, see how they grew and right?

So now you slide the parchment paper off and put them right onto your cutting board and using a serrated knife, you're going to slice these into the wedges that will become biscotti.

But they're not done yet.

What are you doing?

Look at you.

You can't (laughing) he can't help himself.

Once you have all the cookies on the baking sheet, this is going to go back to the oven for 7 minutes, then come back.

They get flipped and they bake for 7 minutes again.

Perfect.

So then they come out of the oven and you have to cool them, right?

So it's going to take a little bit of waiting time because if you try to flip them while they're hot, then they'll break because there are no eggs.

Even though we have chia and we have arrowroot, all designed to do the job of making them crispy.

That's not going to happen if they break.

So you have to make sure they're cooled enough to handle so that you can flip them.

Now these are going to go back to the oven and then in 7 minutes we'll finally have this biscotti.

Thank you, Michelle, my unit manager extraordinaire.

Do these not smell amazing?

Yeah, they're good.

Take one.

Go ahead, take one.

Thank you.

And so now that we have our biscotti, it's off to taste coffee in Naples with my friend and wonderful guide from Pompeii, Antonio Mosca.

Antonio!

(Speaking Italian) I'm so happy to be here.

So happy to have you.

I am here in Naples.

This is Piazza Plebiscito.

It is.

Tell me a little about the square.

You just arrived in, I would say the living room of the town.

Really?

Yeah.

Basically, yes.

This is the monumental area of the town.

So basically this church over there, which looks like another famous building in Italy, you know.

But Is it a church, an actual church.

Looks like the pantheon basically.

Si (speaking Italian).

That's another classical art because it was built since the 1816, basically after a king came back from Sicily because, you know, once Napoleon invaded in Italy, the king of Naples here ran away.

Of course.

He went to Palermo.

He went to Palermo with a promise to build a new church after he came back, basically.

And he did.

So the hemicycle was built by the French.

Then they built the church and dedicated to Saint Francis, the patron of southern Italy, and they just opposite the Doria building in Naples.

So with all the main kings, we had in this little town.

Oh, really?

All the statues are kings.

Mm-hmm.

Eight kings and the queen.

Just the queen arrived.

(Speaking Italian) Shall we get a coffee?

Of course.

I was waiting for that.

Antonio, A coffee?

Usually you just stand at the bar.

What do you say?

I say because we have been working a little bit, why don't we sit a moment?

Yes.

Let's get a table.

(Speaking Italian) Christina, Antonio Mosca.

(Speaking Italian) (Speaking Italian) (Speaking Italian) (Speaking Italian) (Speaking Italian) (Speaking Italian) So, my friend, whenever I speak to you, you talk about the coffee of Naples.

Tell me the story about when you came to Rome for a conference.

I don't want to badly trest the coffee in other towns, but it's not the same.

No, it's the best here.

I guess so.

I guess so.

I want to say is the best because otherwise looks like I'm forcing too much.

Okay, I'll say it.

But I will say it's the best.

It's the best.

It is the best.

Why, do think?

First, is much denser.

So it a little bit stronger.

Okay.

It's a little bit strong.

I guess they put more coffee than other times in Italy.

When they bake it.

Probably, don't know 10, 12 13 grams.

So more than the average in Italy.

Yeah.

Then you say, here we say the water make makes the coffee different.

I don't know if it's really great, but for sure that coffee from this area is toasted.

Roasted a little more than the other coffee.

Whenever we in other towns, I drink something else.

Really?

Sometimes I have to tell you, sometimes I do prefer the American coffee than a fake espresso.

(Speaking Italian) Here we are.

(Speaking Italian) (Speaking Italian) Okay Wow (Speaking Italian) Wow.

So.

So you guys know, Gennaro just explained that when you drink coffee in Naples, you take some of the crema and you rub it around the top.

It helps to cool it.

It helps to smooth out the flavor of the coffee, and you stir it, stir it, stir it so that it opens up and the flavors open up like wine.

You get chocolate, you get coffee, you get chicoria.

I think, it's like a ritual.

(Speaking Italian) Go ahead.

Basically, I was saying that even if it's called espresso, something which reminds us of something fast.

You should drink it slowly, sip, sip, sip.

Not just...Once you are in front of a coffee, just one minute more enough to drink it.

Yeah, yeah.

So you should take your time, you stir it, open up the flavors, put it around the rim-- which I did not know, which is brilliant.

And then you have the perfect Italian espresso.

Antonio, shall we go see more things?

Of course.

I was waiting for you.

So, Antonio, we've been walking for a while now and talking.

I'm feeling a little parched.

What do you say?

One more coffee?

(Speaking Italian) Antonio?

Yes?

(Speaking Italian) Tell me more about how Naples became so famous for coffee, right?

It's not native to here.

Basically not.

That's interesting.

Naples is a melting pot of cultures and the coast is clear evidence about that.

Right.

From Africa, formerly nation.

Right.

Passing by Turkey.

Turkey.

From Turkey imported in Austria.

Okay?

And that's the point because of one of the Bourbon kings, Ferdinando got married with the Queen, Maria Carolina from Austria.

Really?

So she introduced the coffee neighbors.

Crete.

First at the court at the table of the Queen and back to the streets, and then became so popular basically.

And the mocha?

And the mocha is interesting, as well because the first coffee machine, the [inaudible] invented by a French... Oops, shh.

..for the country then became the mocha, invented by a person from Turin, if I would remember.

Turino, okay.

And then became something which looks like Neapolitan, but.

So.

result mixing casters.

Makes everyone had influence, right?

Yeah.

Everyone had influence, but Napoli made it an art form.

Yeah, for sure.

Antonio I think I'm going to miss the coffee of Naples almost as much as I miss you.

Oh, thank you so much.

(Speaking Italian) I'll see you soon.

See you soon, I hope.

See you soon.

(Speaking Italian) And And just when you think you couldn't take any more coffee, this cookie is amazing.

It's chocolate and espresso together.

So, we're going to start with eight tablespoons of olive oil.

Eight tablespoons of olive oil is always my fat when I make cookies.

So this is going to be two quarter cups, because that's how I measure.

As I said earlier.

So this goes in, okay, along with two tablespoons of brewed espresso.

There goes the coffee.

Then we're going to take two tablespoons of water and mix up some egg replacer.

An egg replacer, the one I use is one that you dissolve in water and you mix into with your liquid ingredients.

And it just really works really well.

But use whatever one you like that goes in, a pinch of salt.

I always add my salt to my liquid ingredients because I think it makes it dissolve better.

Next goes in six tablespoons of coconut sugar, so that it mixes really well, three more tablespoons of water, melted chocolate over a double boiler.

Right.

You put chocolate over simmering water--baking chocolate--and you let it simmer.

So you have a nice melted chocolate and that goes in with your liquid ingredients.

I'm using a Stevia sweetened fair trade chocolate, but you want to use whatever dark nondairy chocolate that you have.

That goes in.

And then this goes into our stand mixer and this is going mix for about 30 seconds until it's well combined.

We're not trying to dissolve chia seeds this time.

We're just letting this mix.

And once it's all combined and creamy, now you're going to add to this a teaspoon of baking powder, two teaspoons of arrowroot, which really helps to hold the cookie together, a touch of cinnamon which lifts the cocoa up onto your palate, but also helps to stabilize blood sugar.

There's a purpose for everything.

And then a cup and a half of...

I'm using sprouted whole wheat flour, but you can use whole wheat pastry if you can't get sprouted whole wheat.

So a cup and a half and then we're going to mix this again until it comes together into a soft cookie dough.

Now, this dough is going to seem really soft to you at first, but don't add more flour because you've got egg replacer in here, which is going to start soak things up.

So you need to make sure that you keep your dough very soft.

Now we're adding chopped chocolate, as though there's not enough chocolate in here already.

Some chopped pecan pieces, about a half cup and chopped hazelnut pieces, about a half cup.

And this gets mixed again just until the nuts get incorporated into and the chocolate into the dough.

And then... don't over mix...get it off the spatula, take a parchment lined baking sheet and you're going to use a tablespoon measure to just drop cookies.

Now leave some space between these because they're going to spread and because of the egg replacer, the top of the cookies will crack.

So I usually do about three across.

You know, when we think of cookies and coffee, especially coffee and chocolate, we think it's caffeine.

It's going to make you feel jittery, whatever.

But research shows that coffee helps us to manage stress, boost immunity and feel better about life.

But not when you're walking around having that tumbler of coffee in your hand while you run errands.

It's time to drink coffee the way Italians do.

Sitting around that little lovely cup of espresso and enjoying the social moment of really enjoying that coffee.

These are going to go into the oven for 15 minutes at 350.

So here you have these perfect cookies and the egg replacer helped them to crackle on the top just as you want them to.

So it's the perfect companion to your little shot of espresso.

So what are you waiting for?

Let's get back to the cutting board, and I'll see you next time on Christina Cooks, the Macroterranean way.

Underwriting for Christina Cooks is provided by Suzanne's Specialties, offering a full line of alternative vegan and organic sweeteners and toppings.

Suzanne's Specialties, sweetness the way Mother Nature intended.

Jonathan's Spoons, individually handcrafted from cherry wood.

Each designed with your hand and purpose in mind.

Additional funding is also provided by.

You can find today's recipes and learn more by visiting our website at Christina Cooks.com and by following Christina on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

The companion cookbook, The Macroterranean Way, Volume Two combines the Mediterranean diet with the ancient wisdom of Chinese medicine, allowing us to understand how food affects us, so we can cook deliciously while creating the wellness we want.

To order your copy for $19.95 plus handling, call 800-266-5815.

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