Pasticciotto is a small, oval shaped pastry made from short pastry and filled with crema pasticcera or ricotta. It was brought to my attention by a friend who is besotted with them. They come from Puglia, so while there we investigated.
We found the first pasticciotti in Locorotondo.
More in Cisternino.
They were first made in Galatina, a Baroque town 20 kilometres south of Lecce. I have read a few stories about their beginning, but the one that makes the most sense is that Nicola Ascalone in 1875 used his left over pastry and crema paticcera to make a mini pastry. It became popular and the pasticceria that has his name is still making them today.
On the way to Otranto from Ostuni we called in to Galatina. It was a rare fine day when we parked our car beside a green park.
The large piazza dominated by a huge Baroque church marked the entrance to the Centro Storico.
Via Vittorio Emanuele is on the right side of the piazza and it was a short walk to Pasticceria Ascalone at number 17.
The pasticceria is tiny and we could not see any pasticciotto in the window.
The shop was busy and we had a nervous wait…what if they had sold out?
Finally it was our turn. They are supposed to be eaten warm and 2 warm, crema filled pasticciotti were bought from the kitchen for us.
We can report that they were delicious.
Mission accomplished we took a short walk through Galatina. It is a pretty town dotted with Baroque style buildings in the narrow streets.
We left via one of the old portals.
If you are nearby it is worth stopping for a delicious piece of Galatina history.
This bright green pistacchio pasticciotto, which tasted better than it looked, was found in Lecce.
This one was part of breakfast at our hotel in Lecce.
When we were in Matera we visited a lovely bar for breakfast. As I was ordering coffee I spotted pasticciotti on a tray. We ordered 2 and they were excellent, possibly our favourite pasticciotti.
I complimented the man behind the bar who told us he made them fresh every morning. The pastry was deliciously crumbly and the crema filling also had a little cherry jam….I want one now.
I wonder if they have found their way to the north of Italy.