Neapolitan Pizzelle: a classic recipe from Southern Italy
Neapolitan Pizzelle: a classic recipe from Southern Italy
Equipment
- Bowl
- Pastry board
- Cling film
- cooking pan
- Kitchen paper
Ingredients
Pizzelle
- 250 g Pastry flour
- 250 g All-purpose flour
- 5 g Fresh brewer's yeast
- 10 g Salt
- 300 ml Water
- 2 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
Tomato sauce
- 300 g Peeled tomatoes
- 1 clove Garlic
- to taste Parmesan
- to taste Extra virgin olive oil
- to taste Basil
- to taste Salt
Instructions
Tomato sauce
- Fry the garlic in extra virgin olive oil.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes.
- Season with salt.
Pizzelle
- Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water.
- Add the dissolved yeast to water then gradually stir in the flour.
- Add extra virgin olive oil.
- When the dough firms up, add salt and start kneading on a pastry board.
- Once the dough is smooth, place it in a large bowl, cover with cling film and let it rise for 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, put the dough on a pastry board, take chunks of about 50 g each and spread them with your hands, to form small pizzas.
- Cover the pizzelle with a cloth and let them rise for another 30 minutes.
- Place a good amount of olive oil in a high-sided pan.
- Fry the pizzelle, waiting for them to swell and turn golden.
- Place them on a paper towel.
- When still hot, top them with a spoonful of sauce, a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, a basil leaf and a drizzle of EVO oil.
Today we will try a well-known, mouth-watering recipe: Neapolitan pizzelle. These are fried chunks of pizza dough, ideally served as snacks or appetizers. The traditional Neapolitan version is topped with tomato sauce, parmesan and basil, but they can be served in many different ways, according to taste.
Neapolitan pizzelle require excellent olive oil
Oil is the main ingredient of pizzelle: it is used to make the dough, to fry it and for the final dressing. For the dough and the dressing in particular it is important to choose a good extra virgin olive oil:
- It will make the dough softer and easier to work.
- It is healthier and more digestible than seed oil, which tends to stress the liver.
- Sprinkled on top of the pizzelle at serving time, it gives them a touch of unmistakable taste.
To add flavor to the dough and to sprinkle on the finished product we selected Casolare Fruttato Intenso, an Extra Virgin Olive Oil characterized by a strong but balanced taste. We recommend that you use olive oil also for frying. It is preferable to seed oil for the following reasons::
- It has a high smoke point and withstands high temperatures without releasing any harmful substances.
- It does not stress the liver: food fried in olive oil is not only tastier, it is also more digestible.
We used Farchioni Olive Oil; it is sweet, slightly fruity and very delicate, perfect for frying.
Neapolitan pizzelle: tips for the dough
To prepare Neapolitan pizzelle you only need flour, water, yeast, salt and extra virgin olive oil. To obtain a satisfactory dough you will need to go through the following steps:
- a mix of pastry and all-purpose flour to get a dough which is elastic and firm.
- Use bottled water if possible; chlorine is often used as an additive to tap water. This might alter the water’s taste and slow down the rising process
- Use fresh brewer’s yeast after dissolving it in 1/4 cup warm water.
- If you want the dough to rise properly, add salt only at the end of the kneading process.
- Do not use a rolling pin. Just use your hands to flatten the chunks of dough. A rolling pin would crush all the gasses that form during the rising stage, and you would end up with hard pizzelle.
We gave you all the necessary advice… Now it’s up to you!
