Italian Fried Donuts
Italian tradition mandates these goodies be made during the Christmas holidays, but there’s no reason not to enjoy them year- round. Why torture oneself to wait 11 montts.
Called “grispelle,” aka, “crespelle.” “zeppole,”or “fritelle.” But no matter, if they are made with potatoes, they are delicious!
It seems crespelle are a hybrid sort of bakery item. Some consider the crespelle a pastry item, and others say they are a simple flour dough product. There are offshoots of the pastry, which are stuffed with cream, jelly or another type of filling.
In Basilicata, they have a distant relative to the crespelle, called “Pettole.” They, too, are deliciously fried pieces of dough, which can be coated with granulated sugar, or filled with bits of anchovies.
Anyway, regardless of the name, they are simply delicious.
Ingredients
3kg. of potatoes
2.5kg of flour
1 ½ level tbsps. salt
1 ½ level tbsps. sugar
3 eggs beaten at room temperature
1 Tbsp all purpose yeast
500ml warm milk
Directions
Peel and boil potatoes. Put through a ricer or mash.
Make a large ring of the flour. Make an inner circle of potatoes. In the center, add salt, sugar and dilute with warm milk. Add the eggs, and diluted yeast.
Mix and knead until dough is smooth and non-sticky. Add flour as needed to keep dough from sticking. Cover and let stand at room temp for about ¾ hour.
Roll dough into rope and shape into donuts. Lay on a floured table, cover and let rise until doubled.
Heat oil in a deep fryer. Fry donuts until golden brown, remove, place on paper towels to drain excess oil and taste them while warm. (And we dare you to eat only one).
Makes about four dozen depending on the size of the donut.
