← Nouns Cooking · Italian

Ingredients

• 250 g plain or Tipo 00 flour
• 25 g Sugar
• 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 pinch Salt
• 30 g soft butter (or lard)
• 1 Eggs, separated, white kept for sealing
• 80 ml marsala wine
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 l sunflower oil, for deep-frying
• 700 g whole-milk ricotta (sheep’s milk if you can find it)
• 140 g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
• ½ tsp Cinnamon
• 60 g dark chocolate chips
• 40 g Pistachios, chopped, to decorate
• 1 orange, zest only (or candied orange peel) (optional)

Method

1. Put the ricotta in a sieve lined with muslin or kitchen paper over a bowl and leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours, ideally overnight, to drain.
2. For the shells, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa and salt, then rub in the butter. Add the egg yolk, marsala and vinegar and knead for 5 min into a firm, smooth dough. Wrap and rest in the fridge while the ricotta drains.
3. Roll the dough very thinly, about 1–2 mm, and cut 10 cm circles. Wrap each loosely around an oiled cannoli tube and seal the overlap with a dab of egg white, pressing well.
4. Heat the oil in a deep pan to 175°C (350°F). Fry 2–3 shells at a time for 1–2 min until blistered and deep golden. Lift out, drain, and when cool enough to handle, gently slide off the tubes. Let them cool completely.
5. Beat the drained ricotta with the icing sugar and cinnamon until smooth and creamy, then fold in the chocolate chips and orange zest. Spoon into a piping bag and chill.
6. Fill the shells just before serving, piping from both ends. Dip the ends in chopped pistachios and dust with icing sugar.

Tips

• Fill cannoli at the last minute: the ricotta softens the crisp shells within an hour.
• Contains pistachios; decorate with chocolate or candied peel instead for nut allergies. Never leave hot oil unattended.
• Use butter rather than lard in the shells to keep them vegetarian.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

GialloZafferano Marcellina in Cucina Cooking with Manuela