Pistachio Castagnole

Ingredients

250 grams ricotta cheese, drained
1 large egg
70 grams caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
200 grams plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
100g ground pistachios
20g icing sugar
Vegetable oil for frying

Instructions

In a bowl, place the ricotta, egg and caster sugar, whisk well until smooth.

Sift over the flour, add the baking powder, lemon zest and mix to form a dough. The mixture needs to be sticky and light, but also robust enough to be able to roll it out (add a little more flour if needed). When you have the desired texture, dust your hands with flour, move to a lightly floured surface and gently knead a few times to form a soft compact dough. Cover the with a tea towel and leave it to rest for 15 minutes.

Tear small pieces of dough and roll into balls the size of a golf ball or chestnuts (which is what Castagnole means in Italian!)

Heat the oil in a deep fat fryer or saucepan to 170 degrees Celsius and fry in batches for approx. 2 minutes, or until deep golden, moving them round so they are cooked thoroughly on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Mix the icing sugar with the pistachios. Once all the Castagnole are fried and are still warm, roll in the pistachios and sugar, and serve with a Lavazza coffee!

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