Christmas Eve Tradition. From My House To Yours.

It’s hard to believe Christmas Eve has come and gone. Between all of the decorating, shopping, wrapping, and mingling with family and friends, I really procrastinated on most of my baking and cooking.

You see, most of my family is Italian / Armenian. And Christmas Eve is totally our holiday. It’s our best food day of the year:

The Feast of the Seven Fishes.

I’m not kidding. Our dinner table has at least seven fish dishes. Usually more. Most of the recipes are really time-consuming and tricky – but obviously SO DELICIOUS. But one dish really stands out above the rest.

Baccala Pizzelle

Basically, they’re these little fried patties of salted cod. Sounds simple enough, but I swear – four pounds full WILL be gone in one night.

Ingredients

Dough

4 cups flour

2 1/2 cups warm water

1 teaspoon salt

1 pinch sugar

2 packages instant yeast.

Baccala

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons garlic

2 teaspoons pepper

1 pound shredded baccala

Instructions

Place Baccala in pan filled with cold water. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator. Change water every day for 2 weeks.
On the 14th day, take baccala out of pan, drain the water, and shred first with fingers, then with blender.
Place the shredded Baccala in a bowl and add the parsley, salt, garlic, pepper, and oil.
Mix well. Set aside.
In a separate bowl begin your dough with the flour, salt, and sugar.
Place a small pan with 2 1/2 cups of water on low on the stove. When warm, mix in packages of yeast.
Pour dissolved yeast into dough bowl and mix.
Then mix the dough together with the baccala mixture.
Set aside for an hour on a counter to rise.
Heat frying pan with vegetable oil on medium heat. Spoon out small balls of the mixture and fry until golden brown on both sides.