15 tasty Sicilian almond recipes you must know

When we talk about almonds, the thought immediately goes to Sicily. Sicily is famous for the biodiversity of almonds and for the many varieties of almonds which are cultivated and produced in this region: from Pizzuta almond to Romana of Avola, from Cavalera almond to Cuva Femminella of Ragusa.
No doubt, the most famous Sicilian almond is the one from Avola, whose varieties are mainly used in the confectionery sector for the preparation of typical Sicilian desserts, from Cassata to Martorana fruit.
Sweet and crunchy, fresh or dried, sweet or salty, almonds are the undisputed protagonists of typical recipes, sweet and salty, of the Mediterranean diet.
In this article we want to take you to discover the unique Sicilian almond and all the best almond recipes to prepare at home to celebrate and enjoy Sicily, bite after bite.
Almond: good to know!
Almond is not only Sicilian. This fruit tree with very ancient origins is from Central Asia and only with the Arab domination it spread in the countries washed by the Mediterranean Sea.
Thanks to the mild climate, tendentially warm, to the geological characteristics of the territory and to the cultivation techniques, Southern Italy is among the major importers of almonds in the world. In Sicily, Apulia, Calabria and Sardinia are produced high quality almonds, perfect for any kind of use in cooking, from sweets to gastronomy.
Why Sicilian almonds, in particular Avola almond and Cuva Femminella, are so good and synonymous of quality?
First of all, because they are cultivated in an environment having the ideal climatic and territorial characteristics for their growth. Moreover, the harvesting of almonds follows a slow but precise process with many phases, up to drying, which allows almonds to keep their natural properties, not to be damaged and to keep their sweet and intense taste.
In Sicily, the harvesting techniques of the past are still maintained. Trees are shaken and almonds are harvested by hand. This also affects the quality of the product, which cannot be guaranteed by mechanical harvesting systems.
Even the processing of almonds, before being sold and passing in the hands of consumers, follows a very long and accurate process.
It is obvious that a so long and careful processing really allows to obtain a very high-quality almond.
Pasta and main courses with almonds
But which are the tastiest typical recipes with almonds of Sicilian tradition? Let’s discover them one by one to start tasting the sweet and aromatic flavor of Sicilian almonds!
Pasta with almond pesto
Let’s start with the most famous and tasty pasta dishes of the Sicilian gastronomic tradition. One of them is pasta with almond pesto, a real treat for the palate!
Depending on the area where it is prepared, almond pesto changes its ingredients. To prepare it, you can’t miss olive oil, and you can enrich the pasta dish with cherry tomatoes and basil. However, we suggest not to add too much salt in order to taste at the most the sweetness and the natural flavor of Sicilian almonds.
Sicilian pasta with almonds and anchovies
Among almond recipes typical of Sicilian cooking there is the famous pasta with sardines (in Sicilian dialect, pasta chî sardi), a dish prepared especially in spring-summer time with fresh sardines and wild fennel.
There are many variants of pasta with sardines. One of the most important is the pasta with sardines from Trappeto, the so called “pasta with sardines alla trappitara“, prepared with bucatini and with the addition of salted anchovies. In the province of Agrigento there is a “red” variant, with tomato sauce, whereas in the province of Palermo, instead, pasta with sardines is prepared “in bianco”, without tomato sauce.
However you prepare it, in pasta with sardines cannot miss Sicilian almonds and wild fennel!
Pasta Trapanese
And what a review of pasta dishes with almonds could be without mentioning Pasta alla Trapanese? One of the most appreciated and widespread dishes of the Sicilian tradition is the one with the delicious Trapanese pesto, made with basil, chopped almonds, pecorino cheese, olive oil and plenty of garlic!
By the way, here’s how to prepare some delicious busiate with Trapanese pesto.
Mussels with almonds
In order to keep on talking about recipes with almonds, it is worth mentioning a unique dish typical of the traditional Sicilian seafood cuisine: mussels with almonds. Mussels with almonds are a tasty variant of the classic marinara mussels, a simple and very tasty dish with the intense and pleasant scent of the sea.
To prepare it just add tomatoes and fresh basil, parsley and toasted almonds. You can cook them in a pan and serve them as a single dish or to accompany other delicious fish dishes!
Spatola rolls with almonds and pistachios
Another fish dish typical of the seafood tradition of Sicily are the Involtini di spatola with almonds and pistachios.
Simply cut the spatula into thin slices or buy them already filleted and ready to prepare the rolls. Then prepare a filling of breadcrumbs, parsley, tomato, garlic, pine nuts, almonds and pistachios and cook everything in the oven! A quick, simple and above all unique dish.
Almond dessert and sicilian almond cookies
To Sicilian desserts and cookies with almonds we dedicate a special space. Recipes with almonds bring high the honor of Sicilian confectionery in the world.
There is a long list of Sicilian almond cakes and cookies which have become an icon and a symbol of Sicilian pastry excellence. Let’s discover together the most famous and tasty cakes and cookies recipes!
Almond paste or Pasta Reale
Known as Pasta Reale (pàsta riàli), almond paste is a confectionery preparation now widespread and used all over the world for the preparation of sweets, cakes and cookies made of almonds.
Almond paste has become a gastronomical excellence, so much that it has been officially recognized as a traditional Sicilian food product and included in the list of traditional Italian food products (P.A.T.) of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (Mipaaf).
Protagonist of many recipes, from cassata to cassatelle and frutta martorana, this product is worked and prepared in an artisanal way by Sicilian Master Confectioners, who every day churn out delicious almond sweets and give life to artistic masterpieces to be eaten such as frutta martorana.
Mustazzoli with almonds
But let’s get to the heart of sweet recipes and start with mustazzoli with almonds, delicious sweets from Catania and Messina typical of the period from the Day of the Dead to Christmas. Now widespread throughout Sicily and the rest of Italy, they are prepared with different ingredients and following different recipes.
Mustazzoli, according to tradition, are made of a thin short pastry cooked in the oven and then stuffed with a compound made of cooked wine, dried almonds and decorated with cinnamon and orange peel.
Fior di mandorla or snowflakes
It is impossible to enter a Sicilian pastry shop and not find the Fior di Mandorla (almond flowers), also called “snowflakes” because of their light color, also due to the powdered sugar with which they are covered.
The fior di mandorla are typical biscuits made of real biscuit dough loved for the softness of the dough and for the intense flavor of almonds. A real concentrate of gluttony, but delicate and light, just like a snowflake!
“Buccellati” with almonds (Cucciddati alle mandorle)
“Buccellati” with almonds, also called Sicilian cucciddati, are typical cookies made of almonds spread all over the territory, from east to west.
Sicilian Cuccidati have a very ancient origin, which is believed to be dated back to Roman times and then underwent some variations during the Arab domination in order to enter in full force in Sicilian gastronomical culture.
Included in the list of Traditional Agri-foodstuffs of Sicily (PAT) by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies, these almond cakes are made of a crispy short pastry and stuffed with a filling of figs, dried fruit and various spices such as cinnamon, cloves and cardamom.
The original recipe calls for fig jam, but in Sicily there is also a variant filled with almonds and chocolate. Both delicious!
Sicilian Cassata
If you think about Sicily, almonds and typical Sicilian sweets, you surely think about the queen of Sicilian sweets: Cassata.
Cassata siciliana, in Sicily, is spread in two variants: the traditional one and the baked one, which has a sweet ricotta cheese and chocolate filling. Traditional Sicilian cassata is undoubtedly the richest, the most colorful and the most emblematic of Sicilian culture.
Made of a soft base of sponge cake, filled with ricotta cream and chocolate drops and then decorated with royal pastry and candied fruit, this delicious dessert was born in Palermo between the ninth and the eleventh century, during the Arab domination. In Arabic, “Quas’at “(Cassata) indicates a large bowl in which the filling is mixed. Although it is a typical festive dessert, Cassata is tasted in every period of the year and it is possible to find it in every Sicilian pastry shop, especially in western Sicily.
Its preparation is simple, but it requires patience and a bit of time! Just think, before bringing it to the table, three days must pass: one for the preparation of the base and the cream, which must cool down, the second for the filling and the third for the decoration.
In any case, it’s worth all the wait!
Martorana Fruit
Talking about cassata and typical sweets symbol of this review about Sicilian cooking, let’s also mention martorana fruit. If you happen to enter a pastry shop in Palermo and you see some fruit in the window, you should know you are in the wrong store and that is not real fruit!
Yes, martorana fruit is an authentic work of art of Sicilian pastry making. According to tradition, these typical decorative fruits were prepared by the Benedictine nuns of the Martorana Church in Palermo to adorn the garden.
It is a base of almond paste with which many colored fruits are created to be put inside a basket or on a tray. This sweet symbolizes a commemorative gift towards the dead, given to children so that the dead would return among the living. Martorana fruit, in fact, is mainly consumed in November but, today, it is possible to taste it in any period of the year.
Ova murina
In Sicily, there is a cylindrical shaped cake, with a delicious filling and a decoration of icing sugar. No, it is not the cannolo! We are talking about the ova murina, a typical sweet of the province of Sciacca, little known and not very popular.
This summer sweet replaces the cannolo, typically winter, and is made of a soft pastry of almonds and cocoa, filled with a cream made of milk and zuccata and then decorated with cinnamon powder.
It is believed to have been the nuns of Badia Grande, in 1600, to invent it as an alternative to cannolo and to give it the name of “ova rà Bata Ranni” (eggs of Badia Grande). A delicious sweet, but little known, which continues to live in some pastry shops of the beautiful city of Sciacca and in the houses of the inhabitants, where grandmothers hand down the tradition to children and grandchildren.
Sicilian almond brittle (Sicilian nougat)
We have seen many almond cakes, but none with delicious whole almonds to bite into. In Sicilian nougat almonds are really the undisputed protagonists!
Sicilian torrone is a typical Sicilian sweet, spread from Palermo to Syracuse. And it is in the province of Syracuse, precisely in Avola, that are produced the almonds used for the preparation of this delicious Sicilian sweet.
Sicilian torrone is practically everywhere, from pastry shops to festivals and Christmas markets where master pastry chefs entertain passers-by with their perfect preparation. Almonds are toasted for a few minutes over low heat, then mixed with sugar which, as it melts, forms a thick and sticky cream that binds the almonds together.
The constant processing allows the shaping of this cake that, after cooling down, will form a large slab of almond nougat ready to be cut and crunched!
‘Nzuddi
Another Sicilian sweet made of almonds are the ‘nzuddi. Also this sweet has ancient origins and belongs to the pastry tradition of eastern Sicily, precisely to Messina and Catania.
It was the Vincentian nuns of Catania to invent and realize these tasty soft sweets, almost chewy, with an intense and enveloping scent of almonds, orange and cinnamon. The name ‘nzuddi‘ recalls that of the proper name of person “Vincenzo”, which in Sicilian dialect becomes “Vincizzuddu“).
As martorana fruit, also ‘nzuddi are consumed mainly in the period preceding Christmas, on November 2, but also on June 3 during the patronal feast of Madonna della Lettera.
Sicilian almond granita
We are at the end of this review on Sicilian almond desserts and, since the spring-summer season is approaching, it is the right time to understand how to prepare a fresh and thirst-quenching dessert such as the Sicilian almond granita!
For its preparation, you can use whole almonds or resort to the classic almond paste-based cake. Well, it depends on what you want to obtain.
In the pastry shops of eastern Sicily, you will find an almond granita with a grainy consistency, almost raw, served with a classic brioche “col tuppo“ (with a puffy dough on top) just out of the oven.
This is definitely the traditional, more genuine and artisanal version of almond granita.
If you prefer a more velvety and smooth texture, then better to use the almond paste cake.
Together with pistachio granita and coffee, this dessert deserves a place of honor among the best traditional Sicilian recipes with almonds!
Do you have other almond recipes to suggest or do you want to share your favorite Sicilian recipe with us?
Leave us a comment and, as always, buon appetito!