We have tried, over time, several recipes of Aletria but this is the one that is most often served at our Christmas table.

For many years and until the mid-1990s, my grandmother made her Aletria recipe that by then had a consistency that allowed it to be cut into cubes. However, since she got this recipe that I believe she saw someone make on a TV show at the time, all the other recipes have been put aside.

Ideally (for me) is to serve it warm freshly made, but even making ahead of time its creaminess remains (but less than when cooked fresh).

As with many traditional Portuguese confectionery recipes, all the components of this Aletria are simple and easy to find:

Capellini pasta - There are 2 types of paste you can buy, one which comes in skeins and the one that comes already broken; I have tried both versions and prefer the one that comes in portions.

Sugar - This recipe is not excessively sweet (about 5 tbsp) because during Christmas there are many other sweets to enjoy.

Lemon peel strips and Cinnamon Stick - These are the 2 must-have aromatic ingredients that are present in many other Christmas recipes.

Milk - Some people use full-fat milk, which will give more creaminess to the pasta, but I usually use semi-skimmed milk (preferably organic). Those who want can use vegetable milk, and of these, I suggest almond or oat milk.

Butter - All the recipes I know use butter, but none uses as little as this, only 20 gr which is the equivalent of 2 butter cubes.

Egg yolks - like butter, this recipe also has a small amount of yolks compared to many others, only 4 (and don't waste the egg whites, keep them in a icebox and freeze them for later use in future recipes!)

Cinnamon powder - an essential ingredient to finish the recipe, as no aletria heads to the table without being properly decorated with cinnamon.

Using a peeler or a very sharp small knife, remove 2 strips of peel from a lemon and make small shallow cuts to release more aroma (from the natural oils in the peel).

Put in a pot: sugar, cinnamon stick, 2 strips of lemon peel, butter, salt and finally the milk. I personally like the milk to heat very slowly so that the lemon and cinnamon are infused and these flavors get more intense.

In a bowl, put the 4 egg yolks and, after lightly whipping, add some of the milk from the pot (still warm) so that later they won't whittle when adding to the pasta.

When the milk comes to a boil, add the pasta and let it cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes.

After this time, remove from the heat and add the mixture of yolks and milk, always stirring to make everything smooth and creamy.

The contents of the pot are poured into the serving dish (or dishes for single servings), smoothing the surface slightly and allowing it to cool, later decorating to taste with the cinnamon powder.

To decorate with cinnamon for Christmas, I usually create drawings and letters on the computer, print to paper and after carefully cutting with an x-act, use the stencil technique, sprinkling with cinnamon on top only after the aletria has cooled, so that the paper doesn't stick when place it on the pasta.

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