Big flavor, no flour—great for gluten-free eating, Easter, Passover or just… because you like good food!
Nina’s ’Nolis are named for one of our longtime Bakehouse managers, Nina Plasencia. The Roadhouse, as I mentioned above, celebrated its 22nd anniversary this year. Nina started one year earlier. She’s quietly been a big part of making the Bakehouse what it is for all this time, so naming these incredible little cookies for her is a small but fun way to honor her wonderful work.
The cookies are made with ground almonds and hazelnuts, some great butter, and a touch of honey, and they’re garnished lovingly with toasted pine nuts. It just so happens that Nina’s ’Nolis are naturally gluten-free because they have no flour. In Italy, pine nut cookies are a long-standing staple. They make a great accompaniment for your morning espresso, or for a delicate dessert after dinner!
Longtime Zingerman’s supporter Carol Field, who wrote The Italian Baker and a host of other great books, says that pine nut cookies like this have been eaten since Roman times. Amy Emberling, co-managing partner at the Bakehouse, says, “We’ve made them off and on over the years, and for a variety of reasons, I think they’re going to take off this time. They get positive reviews from practically everyone. Delicious! Traditional! Can’t beat a combo like that.” I think she’s right—they really are wonderful! Need more convincing? On Food52, Food Blogga wrote:
Biscotti may be the stars of Italian cookies but pignoli are the talented understudies just waiting to be discovered. Pignoli cookies are mildly sweet yet have a full-bodied nutty flavor from almond paste that lingers pleasantly on your palate. The crispy exterior reveals a chewy interior that gently pulls away as you bite it. Once you taste a pignoli cookie, you may just think it’s a star.
It’s not hard to imagine using these cookies to make a delicious dessert pasta or an Italianate noodle kugel. Or, if you like your salad on the sweeter side, crumble some on top of it. Crumbling a couple onto some of the great Italian egg pasta we have at the Deli, tossed with delicate olive oil like ROI from Liguria and freshly ground black pepper, would make a lovely lunch or brunch. Buonsissimo!
