La Pinza is widespread throughout the Veneto region, particularly in the province of Treviso. Poor dessert, very seasoned and flavored, it is always present in the traditional winter festivities of “pan and vin”. Until the mid-twentieth century it was prepared with a mixture of wheat and maize flours, raisins, dried figs, walnut kernels, fennel seeds, etc., reduced to the shape of a very low parallelepiped, wrapped in cabbage leaves and cooked underneath. the ashes of the hearth. This rustic cake, with a typical peasant heritage, can be of two types. The leavened pinza is produced mainly in the territory of the left Piave in the province of Treviso and in the areas surrounding Vittorio Veneto and Conegliano. The unleavened one is more common in Treviso and in the areas of the Piave right.
The recipe of the Pinza:
Ingredients
400 g yellow polenta flour
600 gr flour 00
100 gr butter
· 1.6 liters of boiling milk
150 gr sugar
1 sachet of yeast
· 250 gr walnut kernels
· 200 gr sultanas dipped in rum or marsala
· 100 gr of soft dried figs in chunks
100 grams of pine nuts
2 apples
Fennel seeds
Grated lemon peel (only yellow)
· 2 eggs
30 g. butter
· A pinch of salt
1 l. milk.
Preparation
Mix the two flours, sugar and yeast sachet well.
Melt the butter in the boiling milk and add it little by little to the flours and mix, being careful not to form lumps.
Add all the other ingredients, mix and leave to rest for an hour.
Grease a baking dish or oven mold. Fill with the mixture, cover with thin slices of apple and sprinkle everything with sugar.
Put in a preheated oven at 180 ° C for 1? hours.
Allow to cool before serving.
