Recipe: Cartellate (Christmas Fritters)


It is not Christmas without Nonna's Cartellate!

By: Chef Rossella Rago, Cooking with Nonna 

Ingredients

Yield: 3 Dozen

For the Cartellate:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 cups Vin Cotto or Honey
  • Cinnamon powder
  • Olive oil for frying

Directions

  1. In a KitchenAid Stand Mixer bowl, add the olive oil and the wine and mix the two. Add the flour and continue to mix until the flour and the liquids are completely amalgamated and the dough is firm.
  2. Cut a handful of the dough and pass it thru the pasta roller — set at 3 — until you have a flat and long strip of dough about three inches wide and ten inches long. Lay the strip on a wood board, and with a ravioli cutter, cut it into strips one inch wide and ten inches long.
  3. Fold each strip every other inch and attach the strip to the remainder of the strip in a circle to form a rose.
  4. Fry all the Cartellate in olive oil until they are lightly golden.
  5. Heat the Vin Cotto in a pan and while the Vin Cotto is still warm, dip each Cartellata in the Vin Cotto until it is completely covered. Drain any excess juice and place in a platter for storage. Before serving add a sprinkle of cinnamon. If you do not have Vin Cotto, you can substitute it with honey.

Recipe Notes

This Cartellate recipe is perfect for Christmas and in keeping with traditions should only be made at Christmas time. If you would like to enjoy Cartellate during the rest of the year, please make some Cartellate di Primavera or Summer… Here is the Recipe!

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