Nigella’s Italian Recipe Is The Best Way To Use Up Old Panettone

Ah, fluffy, fruity, delicious panettone ― it’s the perfect Christmas gift or dinner party pressie, right?

Well, yes. And that’s how I ended up with four of ’em this year.

Don’t get me wrong ― I got pretty far through the loaves before they started to become too hard and old to enjoy.

But now that I’m left with a cupboard full of the baked delight, I’ve begun to hunt for the best recipes around.

And while I love my French toast version (just add eggs, cinnamon, milk, and a bit of Bailey’s if you’re feeling luxe), I’ll admit I’ve been bested by a suitably Italian classic.

Scrolling through Nigella Lawson’s site, I found a recipe for leftover panettone tiramisu.

“This recipe is my own but at the same time a conflation of a couple of Italian Christmas must-haves: the glorious, fruit-studded panettone and crema di mascarpone, which is best described as tiramisu without the Savoiardi biscuit layer, and sometimes with pieces of chocolate stirred through the mascarpone mixture,” she explains.

She begins by drizzling slices of panettone with liqueur, then whips up some butter and sugar and adds in some Marscapone cream.

Then, she adds Marrons Glacés, chocolate chips, and pistachio to the mix, spreading this evenly between three layers of panettone and drizzling the top with more liqueur.

After that, she covers the lot in clingfilm and lets it chill overnight.

Only after removing it from the fridge does she cover the top with chocolate chips, pistachio, and pomegranate seeds.

If that’s not your cup of tea, Andi Oliver does a delicious-sounding panettone bread and butter pudding recipe ― while Delia Smith transforms the leftovers into a decadent trifle.

Per the BBC, the tradition was popularised in Italy sometime in the 20th century (though the baked good is much older than that, it took a while for the food to spread).

Some Italians hold on to a piece of panettone until 3 February, to celebrate San Biagio (St Blaise).

The saint is said to have saved a child choking on a piece of bread, hence the stale sacrifice is meant to ensure children don’t get sick.

Personally, though, I reckon I’ll use all mine up in tribute to Nigella.