Venice is at its’ most colorful at Carnevale
Carnivale Di Venezia, is a very good reason to indulge the culinary senses. As food plays a significant role in celebrations, is there a better time to enjoy the annual apple harvest. The friendly competition of apple bobbing, or as the Scottish refer to it, dooking, remains a favorite. The most memorable part of Carnevale is the food, especially the specialty sweets made for this holiday. Celebrate the spirit of Carnevale by making the Carnevale sweet of frittelle
Frittelle
Ingredients (for 6 people):
- 1 lb flour
- 1 cup raisins
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- I/2 cup grappa
- 1 packet brewer’s yeast
- a pinch of salt
- peanut oil to fry
- icing sugar to decorate
Method
Melt the brewer’s yeast and sugar with a bit of warm water, then add flour, the eggs, grappa, milk and a pinch of salt. Mix everything and knead it for a while until you see some kind of small air bubbles forming on the surface. Cover then with a napkin and leave it in a warm place to enable it to rise. When the dough has doubled its volume, add the raisins (and pine nuts). Make balls with a teaspoon and gently slide them into the boiling peanut oil (The oil should be deep enough to cover the small balls but do not to put too many of them in at a time). When they rise to the top,, turn them over, so that they brown evenly. Dry them on kitchen paper, sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy your fritoe! (Venetian dialect for frittelle
For more great recipes for any Holiday or to make any day a Holiday..get your copy of the Gourmand World Award Winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays and Special Occasions-2nd edition
