Team Piccolo Camping
06-03-2023The Resta: Easter dessert of Lake Como
Its birth dates back to the early nineteenth century in the Como area and is the result of an error.
It was originally supposed to be a pandolce enriched with candied fruit and raisins, but tradition tells us that a young cook made a mistake in adding (too abundant) yeast, giving life to a delicious tradition.
The cook, seeing the dough overflowing, took an olive branch from the stacks of firewood and pressed down on the dough to prevent it from coming out. Then, to make up for the mistake, he stretched out the dough and flattened it with a knife, scratching it with the blade. Subsequently he realized that he had left the olive branch in the dough and exclaimed, in Como dialect, "Par la resca d' un pèss!" (It looks like a fish bone!) and he proceeded with cooking, leaving the dessert as it is.
It soon became the symbol of the city of Como usually prepared during the Easter period: a metaphor of spring rebirth and a symbol of Lake Como.
Below is the recipe, for which we thank LA CUCINA ITALIANA.
Ingredients
500 g flour plus 2 tablespoons for the surface
150g butter
100 g raisins
100 g granulated sugar
100g mixed candied fruit (orange, citron, cherry)
15g fresh brewer's yeast
8g salt
3 eggs
Acacia's honey
lemon
powdered sugar
Method
Dissolve the yeast in 50 g of warm water, mix with 75 g of flour, form a loaf and let it rise for 1 hour. Then mix it with the remaining flour, the granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon of honey, the soft butter cut into pieces, the eggs, incorporating them one at a time, then add the salt and the grated rind of 1 lemon. Let rise covered for 2 hours.
In the meantime, soak the raisins and cut the candied fruit into small pieces.
Work the leavened dough again on a well-floured work surface, add the squeezed raisins and candied fruit and shape it into 2 elongated ovals; sprinkle them with 2 tablespoons of flour mixed with 1 tablespoon of icing sugar and score the surface with a sharp blade by drawing an ear of corn. Let them rise for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Bake them in the static oven at 175 °C for about 30 minutes.
Enjoy your dessert!
