How delicious – and easy – are Ovis Molis!
Perhaps among the Christmas shortcrust pastries, this is my favorite (in terms of flavor and consistency of the pastry: soft and crumbly, but also slightly moist).
I have long wondered what Ovis Molis means and in reality there is no established truth: some people hold on to the etymology that tells us Ovis = sheep and mollis = tender… but there is absolutely no sheep in these biscuits… or – and who knows if it is true – some say that ovis molis, a highly onomatopoeic name with a repeated sound – is nothing more than a formula, a magic spell. I really like this second interpretation, so I decided to believe it.
And besides, anyone who eats a properly made Ovis Molis will think that the hands of the fairies are behind it.
Ingredients:
- 5 hard-boiled egg yolks
- Butter 200 g (soft)
- Flour 100 g 200
- Starch gr. 100
- Icing sugar gr. 100
- Vanillin
- Jam (I prefer apricot jam)
Boil the eggs and hard-boil them. I boiled them whole with the shell, but some people crack them in a saucepan with hot water: it seems like an excellent solution (also to better monitor the cooking) so next time I will do this. Once cooled, separate the yolks from the whites and set the whites aside. Pass the yolks through a sieve, using your hands or a teaspoon to crush them: this is a very important operation.
In a bowl, place the soft butter, add the vanilla and egg yolks and work the mixture with a spoon until it is soft and smooth. At this point, add the icing sugar, starch, flour until you obtain your soft and elastic shortcrust pastry dough. Wrap it in cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Take the dough again and, taking small quantities of dough with your fingers, form balls, flatten them slightly in the center with your finger and place them on the baking tray covered with baking paper. Put a thin layer of jam in the hollow of each biscuit.
Bake for 15-20 minutes at 130/140ºC: they must remain white, without browning.
They have a soft and almost melting consistency that …you will eat one after the other!!!
ALTERNATIVE BAKING: There are those who cook it in this other way: they bake the biscuits for 10 minutes without jam, then they take them out and add jam, and then they put them back in the oven for 10 minutes. It works very well this way too (but sometimes I forget to do it!)
