Frizzelle, I haven't had them in years until a week ago when my friend Jean brought a platter full to our monthly Bunco get together. She stirred up so many good memories eating these as kids, and we all wondered why we stopped buying them! After one bite, I couldn't wait to go out and get a bag!Frizelle, sometimes spelled Friselle, are crispy Italian circular breads that have a hole in the center, it's baked once, then cut in half, then rebaked on a very low temperature until completly dried and super crispy.
You can find Frizzelle usually at any good Italian market or bakery, they're stacked in a bag, they come in whole wheat or white, small or large size, and they're very inexpensive!
With just a few store bought ingredients you have the makings for a wonderful snack. This is what I made for Super Bowl Sunday, the husband was very happy! I ran over to my nearest Italian market and bought a bag of the smaller whole wheat ones, a jar of eggplant salad, which has sliced eggplant marinated in oil and spices, along with roasted red peppers, celery, capers, and smashed green olives, all in one jar, so good! a chunk of good aged fontinella cheese, provolone is just as good, and thinly sliced salami which I diced up when I got home.
Because they're very crisp, many people like to sprinkle a little water over the top to soften them up. I never do that for mine, I like the crunch! Besides all your toppings soften them up anyway, but that's just me.
The key thing to do, I mean you have to do this, is take a raw garlic clove and rub it all over, the garlic flavor will fall between the crunchy grooves. Now drizzle olive oil on top of that, a little salt, black pepper, and another key ingredient is dried oregano, shake it all over!
See how everything soaks in? It's even good to eat it just like this adding a little red wine vinegar drizzled on top.
But it's much better like this, trust me!I like to drain my eggplant salad, you don't need all that oil, you've already prepped your bread with your good olive oil.
Play around and experiment with your favorite toppings, how about a ripe tomato salad spooned on top? It's great to have a bag handy in your pantry when someone pops over for a visit. Quick, easy and so good!
Now go out and try to find these, you'll be happy you did!
Buon Appetito!
