SFINCI DI SAN GIUSEPPE (St. Joseph’s Day Frit

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 2 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Italian Holiday

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
Celestino Drago
1 pound Ricotta
los Angeles restaurant
1/4 cup Semisweet chocolate
Food of southern italy
finely chopped
1 Quart olive oil
1/3 cup Powdered sugar
–Cream Puff Pastry
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Water
2 tablespoon Mixed glaceed fruit — or
1/2 cup Butter — or 1/2 cup
citron or orange — finely
unsalted butter with 1/4
chopped
teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Chopped pistachio nuts
1 tablespoon Sugar
and/or toasted almonds
1 cup Flour
1/4 cup Heavy whipping cream
4 Eggs — at room temperature
–Ricotta Filling
Powdered sugar

Heat olive oil to 350 degrees. Carefully drop Cream Puff Pastry batter, by
tablespoonfuls, into hot oil, using finger or another spoon to dislodge dough.
Fry small batches or oil will cool off and fritters will be soggy.
Fritters will urn themselves over (as bottom of fritter cooks it expands and
becomes lighter than top, which keeps fritters turning). If fritters don’t
turn, turn with spoon. Fritters should almost triple in volume. When fritters
are golden brown, remove with slotted spoon to dish lined with paper towels to
drain excess, oil.

Or tear open fritters and fill with Ricotta Filling and dust with powdered
sugar. Serve immediately. Fritters are best hot; they do not keep well and
cannot be reheated successfully. Heap on plate and serve. Makes about 25
fritters.

Note. Fritters may be eaten unfilled. After frying, simply dust fritters
generously with powdered sugar.

For cream puff pastry Place water, butter and sugar in heavy saucepan and
bring to boil over high heat. Add flour all at once, lower heat, and stir
vigorously with wooden spoon until batter makes soft cohesive mass that does
not stick to sides of saucepan. Keep stirring batter over low heat about 2
minutes. When dough is quite cohesive and maintains ball shape as you spin it
around pan, remove pan from heat.

Transfer mass of dough to bowl to cool about 10 minutes. When tepid, add 1
egg at time, beating in thoroughly. Batter should be firm enough to stand up
in peaks. More eggs will increase fluffiness. Do not make dough too sot.
Dough must hold shape readily when pushed around with spoon. Before adding last
egg, test batter in hot oil.

Dough is best used just after making. Dough can be stored, covered, in
refrigerator up to 2 days. Let dough come slowly to room temperature before
using and rebet dough.

For Ricotta Filling Combine ricotta, chocolate, powdered sugar, vanilla,
fruit and nuts in bowl and mix well. Whip cream until thick and fold into
other ingredients in bowl. Filling can be made up to 1 day ahead and stored in
refrigerator.

In his book “The Food of Southern Italy,” Carlo Middione writes that there is
a dish “without which no Southern Italian could live: Sfinci di San Giuseppe.”
As the name implies, the fritters, filled with ricotta, are traditionally
served on St. Joseph’s Day. But they’re so delicious they make good eating any
day of the year.

[75236,732] SICILI.TXT/Asc Bytes: 13572, Count: 22, 03-Jan-93 MM by
Cathy Svitek

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