This recipe is actually made with home-made olive oil (how wonderful is that!?) that was given to us as a present this weekend.
These 'tortas' come from Seville, probably the most beautiful city in Spain. The combination of olive oil, anise seeds, citrus and sesame flavours is just divine.
You need:
- 100 ml oil
- 35 ml aniseed liquor (Pastis or Pernod)
-100 ml water
- 250 gr plain flower
- the zest of a lemon and an orange
- 15 gr fast action yeast
- half a teaspoon of salt
- 15 gr sesame seeds
- 10 gr anise seeds
- 5 tablespoons of sugar
Fry the orange and lemon zests in the oil over very low heat for 2 minutes. Mix the flavoured oil with the water and Pastis. Add the yeast and stir it all until it is dissolved in the liquid. Then add the flour, salt, and seeds and knead it all for 8 minutes until it becomes elastic (no need to add flour for the kneading). Cover it with cling film and let it rest in a warm place for one hour so that it doubles in volume.
Preheat the oven at 200 degrees and cover a tray with baking paper. Take walnuts-size balls of dough and extend them with a rolling pin so that they are as thin as possible (again, no need for flour as they do not stick to the rolling pin). Sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar on top of each 'torta' and bake then for 10-11 minutes (if you like them caramelised, dust them with icing sugar first and then with a bit of caster sugar before getting them into the oven). Let them cool down for 10 minutes on a cooling tray so that they crisp up.
It is a challenge to stop eating them.
