Frizzelle

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Frizzelle, I haven’t had them in years until a week ago when my friend Jean brought a platter full to our monthly Bunco get together. She stirred up so many good memories eating these as kids, and we all wondered why we stopped buying them! After one bite, I couldn’t wait to go out and get a bag!
Frizelle, sometimes spelled Friselle, are crispy Italian circular breads that have a hole in the center, it’s baked once, then cut in half, then rebaked on a very low temperature until completly dried and super crispy.
You can find Frizzelle usually at any good Italian market or bakery, they’re stacked in a bag, they come in whole wheat or white, small or large size, and they’re very inexpensive!

With just a few store bought ingredients you have the makings for a wonderful snack. This is what I made for Super Bowl Sunday, the husband was very happy!
I ran over to my nearest Italian market and bought a bag of the smaller whole wheat ones, a jar of eggplant salad, which has sliced eggplant marinated in oil and spices, along with roasted red peppers, celery, capers, and smashed green olives, all in one jar, so good! a chunk of good aged fontinella cheese, provolone is just as good, and thinly sliced salami which I diced up when I got home.


Because they’re very crisp, many people like to sprinkle a little water over the top to soften them up. I never do that for mine, I like the crunch! Besides all your toppings soften them up anyway, but that’s just me.

The key thing to do, I mean you have to do this, is take a raw garlic clove and rub it all over, the garlic flavor will fall between the crunchy grooves. Now drizzle olive oil on top of that, a little salt, black pepper, and another key ingredient is dried oregano, shake it all over!

See how everything soaks in? It’s even good to eat it just like this adding a little red wine vinegar drizzled on top.

But it’s much better like this, trust me!
I like to drain my eggplant salad, you don’t need all that oil, you’ve already prepped your bread with your good olive oil.
Play around and experiment with your favorite toppings, how about a ripe tomato salad spooned on top? It’s great to have a bag handy in your pantry when someone pops over for a visit. Quick, easy and so good!
Now go out and try to find these, you’ll be happy you did!
Buon Appetito!

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Comments

  1. Do you have a recipe for authentic Frizzelle? I used to buy them at a small bakery–Senape’s Bakery in Hazleton, PA. The bakery has changed hands and it seems as thought the recipe has been altered. I no longer live in that area, and if I want to eat Frizzelle I am going to have to make them myself!

    • I do not but Italian cookbook author Rosetta Costantino makes them all the time she’s on most social media channels and also has a
      cookbook called My Calabria

  2. Joe Riordan says

    The frizzelle my mom would buy were from Brooklyn and they weren’t bagel shaped, they were oval biscuits. She would cook up scungilli and pour that on top. Delicious!

  3. Christine Marino says

    Here in New York they are made like a loaf of bread and sliced about and inch thick before baking again. I have been looking for a recipe to make them, but with no luck. I was wondering if you have ever come across one. I’d love to give them a try. Thanks for all your wonderful recipes and stories. I enjoy them all.

    • I remember them looking like slices of Italian Bread, toasted and dried. Sometimes we’d get ones that were laced with black pepper, also.

  4. Oh Marie! I purchase the whole wheat variety and send them to our friends (former NYers) in North Carolina! They cannot get them, sadly. Lots of memories of Brooklyn with this special biscuit…and I love the small black pepper variety…to soak up the sauce with scungilli….am now officially hungry 🙂
    A happy New Year to all!

  5. OMG..I cannot believe I found your website. I was thrilled…We would have the frizzeles all the time with Grandma Dina. They are so hard to find. I lived in Albany and could find them if I searched the Italian markets. I now live in AZ and no one has them. Do you think I could make them myself? I would be in heaven….Does anyone have the recipes for the frizzeles. I would so much apprecaite it. thank you . DOnna

  6. My dad and Granny called them Fessitta (not sure of spelling), And we crushed tomatoes, oregano and a little oil, salt and pepper on top,

  7. susan cervantes says

    Love them! Soooooo hard to find! But now I am a woman on a mission. I moved to north Jersey and haven’t seen them anywhere. There is a great Italian store in Latham and Saratoga, New York called Roma. They have them. So I guess I need to go visit my family and bring home a truck load — they last forever in a container with tight lid. Thank you for this reminder. Susan

  8. Love these…still have them all the time! I like them simple ..with balsamic vingear and tomatoes…salt and pepper… yummie

    • Lucille Manno says

      I bought the white friselle at an Italian deli and we fixed them the same way you did with vinegar and cut up tomatoes, salt and pepper. The next time I buy them I think I would prefer the whole wheat. We did sprinkle some water on them but I will take Marie’s advice and leave it to the eggplant salad, roasted peppers and olive oil to finish the job. Lucille

  9. Oh my gosh…! This looks fantastic! I’m going to try this for sure! YUM!!!!

    You might enjoy my Italian family recipes site. I am on a mission to nail down all the great recipes my Italian grandmother used to make! 🙂

    http://www.spaghettisauceandmeatballs.com/

  10. Wonderful stuff, the friselle. When I was a child, growing up in Puglia where they come from, I used to dip them for just a second in the crystal clear sea of Gallipoli, by Lecce, where we went on vacation for about 5 Summers, so that they would get a bit softer and get extra taste (seasalt!), and then eat them with just some ripe tomato and a drizzle of e.v. olive oil. Yummie! 🙂

  11. Beautiful! I wish we could get friselle here.

  12. mmmmm….crunchy goodness!

  13. Oh, yes, I know just where to find these. I like the way you dressed them up, Marie, and your photographs illustrate the story so well – bella!

  14. I have never heard of these, but looks so good! I know my family would love these. I’ll have to see if I can find some of these in my area, but we don’t have any Italian groceries, that I’m aware of.

  15. These look so good Marie, I have not heard of these, will look out for them at the deli next time. They look delicious with just the garlic and oil too. oh i’m making myself so hungry. hugs, Kathy.

  16. This is so much better than a cracker or a chip to snack on Marie! I love the topping you chose.

    Plain frezzles are also good for babies to teeth on! My grandson loves them 🙂

  17. It looks like Italians invented bagel chips. How cool is that:D

  18. MMMM Pagliacci eggplant salad!

    “Si Puo? I Pagliacci

    Delicious!

  19. I love this Italian snack and get them at a local Italian store…what divine toppings!

  20. Sounds Good.. Bravissima

  21. OMG! that looks so good. I’ve never heard of friselle. But I’ve got to try them now. I doubt I’ll find them here in Phx but I will be sure to check for them the next time I’m in Philly. And the toppings you used sound perfect.

  22. Everything in the last few posts looks yum, but these definitely make me want to run right out and get some and put this version together, pronto!

  23. Hugh…now this I’ve never had or heard of. But it sure looks tasty. And the topping you whipped up sure looks good!

    Yum!

  24. Wow, Marie. That looks amazing! I can imagine the crunch of the frezzelle and the flavors of the eggplant salad all combining to make some kind of luscious treat. Maybe there’s a good online source for these.

  25. I’ve never hear of frizzelle. I learn something new everyday! This looks yummy!

  26. I will be looking for frizzelle – looks delicious! Your toppings look amazing!

    I used to belong to a monthly bunco group. It was fun and we always ate well!

  27. I’ve never had friselle!! I would love it. Yours looks delicious 🙂

  28. I’m going to have to ask my mom and dad about frizelle, I have never seen them here in California! But maybe that explains my parents fettish with bagels! 🙂
    anything crunchy is a comfort to me!
    xoxo

  29. Oh – haven’t seen them since I left NYC decades ago. But hmmm…. I wonder…. a visit to a few Italian delis here – you never know. Thanks for the tasty wake-up call!

  30. My knowledge of Italian cooking is minimal, but thanks to you– and a few other bloggers– I’m learning new things. I’ve never heard of these, but I can already tell they’d be a hit at home. They’re simple to make, and flavorful. That’s what I love about authentic Italian food!

  31. This looks so delicious, Marie. I’ve never seen them in any markets in my area. I’m forwarding your post to my daughter in Chicago. She has a great Italian market close by. I’m going to visit in April and will be sure to look for friselles then.

  32. Marie, those look so good!!! I’ve never heard of them before. I grew up on the West Coast and was married to an Italian for 23 years and we never had them. And to make matters worse, in my little town here in Oregon we don’t even have an Italian market. I really miss that since moving here. I think I’ll look for some online. Maybe I can order some that way.

  33. Can you believe I have never heard the name Friselle? It looks like a bagel to me, now I want a bagel w/ eggplant relish and salami!

  34. Oh my gosh Marie – You sure have brought back memories for me. I forgot all about friselle, but my husband and I used to buy them all the time when we were first married. It’s time to renew my friendship with them again!

  35. …like an Italian version of a bagel….I love that!!!!! The egg plant has given me an idea what to do with the four eggplants in my veggie basket…Thx

    • Pappa Facci says

      Seeing this has made my day, some of the good times with my dad when he would come home from working night shift at the Chicago Trib, he was a mailer. Some times on a Saturday if I was good and didn’t tear the house down, he would fix this up and we would dunk it in some good old dago red. you all know what that is don’t ya. LOL Of course my dad would have the Salami hanging around down in the basement. that help to. Ciao

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  1. […] are many ways you can top this delicious Italian hard bread. I found a fantastico food blogger from Chicago who put it together much better than I. She added green olives, roasted red peppers and capers. […]

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