Fried cartocci with ricotta

Do you know Sicilian cartocci? They are also known as macallè and are soft cannoli of brioche dough, filled with delicious ricotta cream that is enriched with tasty chocolate chips. These sweets can be found all over the island, but their origin is Palermo, and the time when Sicilians love to consume them is during breakfast. The cartocci, also known as macallè, are similar in shape to cannoli. Sold by every bar, pastry shop and bakery in Sicily, they are mainly eaten for breakfast. Every morning in Palermo there is no bar, bakery or rotisserie that does not display fried foil in the window. Soft and filled with a sweet ricotta cream and covered with a layer of sugar, they are a real delight for the palate.

Ingredients

500 g of flour 

250 ml of milk

50 g of lard or margarine

50 g of sugar

25 g of brewer's yeast

An egg

A pinch of salt

Water to taste

Seed oil for frying

sheep's milk ricotta 

vanillin

Steps

For the filling of the foils, it is necessary to put the sheep's milk ricotta to drain in a colander and place it in the refrigerator until it has lost the whey. Then sift it, mix it well in a bowl together with the sugar and vanillin, add the chocolate chips and set aside. Now you can proceed with the preparation of the foils: mix the sifted flour, sugar, salt and lard (at room temperature) in a bowl, incorporate the brewer's yeast dissolved in a little warm water and knead by pouring the milk a little at a time until you get a soft and homogeneous dough. Add a beaten egg and continue to work vigorously, pouring a drizzle of water if necessary. Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rise for a couple of hours. After this time, detach chunks of dough from the dough and knead them until they form sticks long enough to roll them around buttered metal cylinders. After a further hour of rising on an oiled pastry board, dip the foils, a few at a time, in plenty of hot oil and fry them in plenty of boiling oil until they are golden brown. Place them on absorbent paper and let them cool before removing the metal cylinders. Fill with ricotta and dip in sugar.