In Abruzzo they’re called mazzafame (which literally means “hunger killer”) because they’re a snack sure to quell your hunger. A typical street food at local festivals, they can be eaten as a snack on their own or with prosciutto, or even during meals in place of bread.
In Campania, on the other hand, they’re smaller, softer, and served with tomato sauce like a pizza, but fried. You can also find them in some regions of northern Italy, but only in a sweet version dusted with sugar.
Today we’re here to share the basic recipe for the fritelle adored by adults and children alike. Crispy on the outside yet soft on the inside, they puff up beautifully when fried and can be paired with almost anything you like.
Fritters in all shapes and sizes
Fritelle can be prepared as an appetizer, a snack or a packed lunch, even if ideally they should be eaten while still piping hot (so carrying them around for too long may not be the best idea). So what’s the typical shape? They’re usually round, whether large or small, or sometimes formed into sticks, depending on how you want to serve them. If you don’t feel like kneading the dough, you can also tear it into small pieces with your hands once it’s risen and fry them in very hot sunflower seed oil. You’ll get soft mini-sized balls of deliciousness that you won’t be able to resist popping into your mouth one after the other, perhaps with a cold glass of beer or even topped with melted chocolate and hazelnut spread for an unbelievably indulgent dessert!
What about sauces for dipping? They’re not really necessary because fritelle are already delicious as they are. But if you want to spice things up like they do in Naples, serve them topped with tomato sauce and basil, like a pizza. Another typical, delicious variant from Abruzzo pairs the fritters with green peppers fried together with beaten eggs.
Frittelle mazzafame: the recipe
Combine 2 1/2 cups of Italian 00 flour and 2 cups of bread flour with a teaspoon of sugar. Dissolve 1 ounce of fresh yeast in one cup of milk and add the mixture to the flour.
Add in 1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil and some salt and knead the dough thoroughly with your hands. Add more milk (or water) if necessary until the dough is soft and moist.
Let the dough rise for one or two hours in a lightly greased glass bowl covered with a cloth. When it has practically doubled in size, pinch off small amounts (leaving the dough in the bowl) and form round or long fritelle, working them with your hands very quickly so they don’t deflate.
Never knead the dough again once it has risen! Make a few and let them rest on a wooden pastry board while the sunflower seed oil heats up. When the oil is ready, drop them in one at a time. The side that was exposed to air should always be immersed first. After a minute, turn them over.
After a few minutes, the frittelle will be ready. Dry them on paper towels and season them with a pinch of salt. Serve immediately.