Southern Europe has no shortage of mouth-watering desserts developed by holy men and women. When visiting Italy, Spain, or Portugal, you’ll quickly learn that many delicious treats are the brainchild of inventive monks and nuns.
In the town of Monte Sant’Angelo in Italy’s southern Apulia region, for example, locals proudly bake “ostie piene,” literally “stuffed hosts,” a sort of host sandwich made of honey-glazed toasted almonds, sugar, and cinnamon enclosed between two hosts.
According to a local legend, we owe the invention of this crunchy and nutritious treat to the nuns of the order of Santa Chiara, based in the Holy Trinity Monastery of Monte Sant’Angelo, a scenic hilltop town located near the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Sanctuary of St. Michael the Archangel.
Locals report that in the year 1600 a nun was preparing food inside the kitchen of the Holy Trinity Monastery of Monte Sant’Angelo when she accidentally spilled some almonds into a jar of honey. The inventive nun used a host to retrieve the precious nuts from the jar, as almonds were one of the few protein-rich foods readily available in the area. The operation resulted in a wafer covered in honey and almonds and the first specimen of “stuffed hosts” was born.
Today, the “stuffed hosts” are made all year round, but are especially available during religious festivities, when pastry shops and bakeries advertise the special treat outside their shops.
Recipe
Locals also love to bake the host-treats at home with a relatively simple recipe. To make “ostie ripiene” you simply need water, flour, sugar, cinnamon, almonds, honey, and cloves.
- First, bake the hosts by mixing water and flour to create 6-inch long oval shaped wafers.
- Then, mix the almonds with sugar and honey in a pot.
- Let the mix simmer until all the almonds are covered in a mix of melted honey and sugar before adding the cinnamon and the clove.
- After a few minutes, spread the glazed almonds into the hosts and let the treats cool down before serving.
To visit Monte Sant’Angelo from Rome (262 miles), take the A1 towards Foggia. Take the exit Bari and take the SS89 following directions for Monte Sant’Angelo.
