Italian Fritters are considered a party food in Italy, and they’re especially popular as a snack during Carnival parties – when fried food is a must!
We don’t eat fried foods like this every day, but who doesn’t love to indulge in some frittelle every once in awhile?
Sweet or savory: how do you like your fritters?
Prepared in different regions of Italy, there is one common characteristic besides the varying shape and ingredients: the exterior crunchiness with a soft, pillowy dough inside. The dough is more or less the same as pizza dough, even if sometimes recipes may call for milk instead of water or boiled potatoes to add a softer texture. Then there are the recipes that transform them into doughnuts, ball shapes and even small pizzas. Or those that say to season them with salt, sugar, tomato sauce or perhaps a slice of ham. But the most important thing? The bubbles. The perfect fritter must inflate as it cooks. That means you must pay attention to the leavening and temperature of the oil!
Italian Fritters: The Traditional Recipe
Ingredients for the fritters:
9 oz flour, 9 oz manitoba flour, 1 packet of brewer's yeast, 1 cup of extra-virgin olive oil, Pinch of sugar, Salt to taste, A glass of whole milk, Seed oil for frying, Procedure
Method
Dissolve the yeast in a glass of milk and add the mixture to the flour mixed with a pinch of sugar. Add the oil followed by the salt and work very well with your hands. Add more milk until the mixture is soft and moist. Let the dough rise for one or two hours in a lightly greased glass container covered with a cloth.
When the dough has doubled in size, take small quantities with your hands (leaving the rest of the dough in the container) and form round pancakes. Make some and let them rest on a wooden pastry board while the oil reaches temperature.
When the oil is ready, dip them in one at a time. In a couple of minutes the pancakes are ready. Drain them on paper towels and season with a pinch of salt.