In the local Piedmontese dialect, meliga refers to the fioretto corn flour that's mixed into the dough of these polenta cookies. These solid, crumbly Piedmontese sweets pair perfectly with a cup of afternoon tea, a glass of wine after dinner, or an espresso any hour of the day. The Count of Cavour, a 19th-century Italian statesman, never left the table without finishing his meal with two paste di meliga cookies and a glass of Barolo Chinato, a Piedmontese aromatized wine.
To make the recipe, no cookie cutters are necessary – just a pastry bag with a star-shaped tip.
Piedmontese Polenta cookies recipe
Ingredients:
1¼ cups fioretto corn flour
1¾ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
⅔ cup sugar
1 large egg + 1 large yolk
2 sticks butter, softened
1 vanilla pod
grated lemon zest
Method:
Combine the all-purpose and corn flours in a bowl and mix. Cut the vanilla pod lengthways and use the tip of the knife to remove the seeds. Add the vanilla seeds to the flour, then add the sugar. Lastly, add the softened butter followed by the grated lemon zest.
Mix everything with a spoon or by hand, then add the whole egg and yolk. The mixture should be soft, but also smooth and firm – there shouldn't be any lumps. Transfer the mixture into a pastry bag with a star-shaped spout.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking tray with parchment paper. With the pastry bag, create donut shapes with the cookie dough, spacing them about 2″ apart.
Place in the oven and bake for around 20 minutes, checking the cookies from time to time to make sure they don't overcook. When the cookies turn golden brown, they're finished. Remove from the oven and let cool. They will keep for several days if stored in a cookie tin.