Recipes
Chiacchiere Recipe
20 large Chiacchiere
Chiacchiere are sweet pastry fritters traditionally eaten during Carnevale and have many different names throughout Italy, including Frappe, Sfrappole, Cenci, Donzelle and many more!
In our restaurants, we serve ours with sprinkled icing sugar on top with a choice of melted dark chocolate or zabaione. Alternatively, our Chiacchiere are also available to take away from both our delicatessens.
Ingredients
- 500g Plain 00 Flour
- 25g Caster Sugar
- Pinch of Salt
- 4 Whole Eggs
- 2 Egg Yolks
- Lemon Zest of 2 Lemons
- 25g Unsalted Butter, Softened
- 125cl Pernod
- 5cl White Wine
- Vegetable Oil for frying
- Icing sugar for topping
Method
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and butter until you have a crumbly texture. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, lemon zest and Pernod. Slowly add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and fully incorporate to form a dough. Moisten the dough with a little of the wine until light and soft. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for one hour.
Once rested, roll out the dough to a large rectangle of 3mm thickness on a floured worksurface. Cut into 8cm – 10cm long and 4cm wide rectangles.
Heat plenty of vegetable oil at 175 degrees and deep fry the Chiacchiere in small batches until golden brown on each side for just less than a minute each. Drain on a paper towel. Keep the dough covered at all times while batch-frying to avoid it drying out.
Serve on a large plate and sprinkle with icing sugar. For a modern twist, serve them with a dipping sauce like zabaione or melted chocolate, just like we do at our restaurants.
