Photo by La Buongustaia
Just found my notes that I had written many years ago whilst living in Italy. This is just one of them, a classic sweet to celebrate 'Martedi Grasso' (Shrove Tuesday) and made throughout the season of carnevale, a celebration period before the fasting of Lent...'Le Chiacchiere di Carnevale'
The Italians celebrate what we call Pancake day by making these beautifully delicate deep fried sweet pastries, dusted with icing sugar.
Every family will have their favourite version of this recipe, with some using grappa instead of wine. This is my favourite 'tried and tested' recipe given to me by a lady who I called Zia Lucia (Auntie Lucy).
The sweet pastry is made to the same consistancy as homemade pasta and treated in the same way by making it into lasagne sheets, using a pasta machine or, rolled out by hand very thinly with a large rolling pin.
Le Chiacchiere di Carnevale
Recipe translation to follow...
Measurements are done by a glass tumbler (these were measured out using a 200g Nutella glass).
8 Eggs
1 Glass of White Wine
1 Glass of Butter
1 Sachet of 'Pane degli Angeli' (baking powder with a hint of vanilla)
1/2 Glass of Caster Sugar
A Pinch of Salt
1 1/2 Kg of Plain Flour (thereabout)
Pane degli Angeli
Photo by La Buongustaia
You can place all of the ingredients either into a mixer or work the ingredients onto a floured surface, by combining firstly flour, sugar, salt and Pane degli Angeli (baking powder). Make a well in the center and incorporate a bit at a time the beaten egg and then the softened butter and white wine, until a ball of soft non sticky dough is formed.
Leave to rest covered for at least 1/2 hour. I normally wrap my dough in clingfilm and place back into the mixing bowl.
Now divide the dough into workable amounts to feed into a pasta making machine with rollers for making lasagne.
If you don't have a machine, you can roll the pasta out on a floured surface to the thickness of lasagne sheets.
Cut the sheets into strips...
A Ravioli Cutter
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