Nocino

Nocino is a liqueur from Northern Italy made with green walnuts.  TSB and I managed to get our hands on a box of these rare, under-ripe beauties and first made a batch of nocino.  Green walnuts are available mid-June, and are over-ripe by mid-July.  When right, the innards are still soft enough to cut through, and jelly in some parts where eventually a nut and shell would form.

Nocino

We split this recipe between 2 half-gallon mason jars.

• 30 green walnuts, soaked overnight and quartered
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 5 cloves
• 1 vanilla bean
• zest of one lemon
• 2 orange slices
• 2 1/2 c maple syrup
• 1 liter of vodka
• 500 ml dry vermouth
• 1 tsp fennel seed
• 1 tsp szechuan peppercorns

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Combine all ingredients in jars and let sit for at least a year, shaking every once in a while.  Apparently this stuff may not be fully primed for 3 years.