Castagnole

Carnival time in Italy means, of course, a big meal. And while traditionally it was the last chance to have meat before Lent—the very word carnevale comes from a Latin expression carne levare loosely meaning to “say goodbye to meat”—perhaps the most iconic Italian dishes for Carnival are actually dolci fritti, or fried sweets.

In past years we’ve looked at a few of these, like the iconic fried ribbons of dough called (among many other names) chiacchiere, as well as the Venetian fritters called fritole. This year I want to share with you the recipe for yet another lovely dolce fritto: castagnole, little balls of fried sweet dough enriched with eggs and butter and perfumed with liqueur and lemon zest. They are thought to resemble chestnuts, called castagne in Italian. So hence the name. Originally from the central-northern regions, specifically the Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Umbria and Tuscany, today you will find them all over the country.

I love castagnole because they are sweet without being cloying. And when well made, they are crisp on the outside but light and airy on the inside. They are delicious on their own, served as a snack with coffee or hot chocolate, or as a toothsome dessert. So good that you might not want to limit them to just Carnival time.

Ingredients

Makes about 30-35 castagnole

For the dough:

• 200g (7 oz) flour, preferably the “OO” type
• 50g (4 Tbs) granulated sugar
• 40g (3 Tbs) softened butter
• 2 eggs
• 8 g (2 tsp) baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbs anisette or other liqueur (see Notes)
• The zest of 1/2 lemon

For frying:

• peanut or vegetable oil

To finish:

• granulated sugar, q.b.

Directions

In a large mixing bowl (or in the bowl of the standing mixer), whisk together the softened butter, sugar, liqueur, lemon zest and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the eggs and whisk again.

Then incorporate the flour by cupfuls until you’ve formed a smooth, soft but non-sticky dough. )I usually begin with a whisk, then switch to a wooden spoon or spatula when the dough gets too solid to whisk, then once I have a ball, switch to hand kneading.)

Let the dough rest for 30 minutes or so.

Take perhaps 1/4 of the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured pastry/cutting board with the palms of your hands into a log about 2cm (3/4 inch) thick, as if you were making potato gnocchi.

Cut the log into 2 cm (3/4 inch) sections, then take each section and roll it in the palms of your hands into round balls. Place the balls onto a lightly floured baking sheet.

Deep fry the balls in moderately hot (180F/350C) oil until golden brown on all sides, about 2-3 minutes. Using a spider skimmer, toss the dough balls gingerly in the oil now and again so they brown evenly on all sides. The should puff up considerably. Drain on paper towels or a baking rack.

While still warm, sprinkle your fried castagnole with sugar and toss until well covered on all sides.

Serve at room temperature.

Notes

The usual tips for deep frying apply when making castagnole. Most importantly, you should take care to maintain proper temperature. The dough balls have time to cook inside while they brown on the outside. As indicated in the recipe, an oil temp of around 180C/350F or a bit less is the sweet spot. Otherwise, as usual make sure the dough balls have lots of room. You will probably need to proceed in batches.

Variations

The base recipe for castagnole is remarkably consistent across sources. The ingredients generally stay the same, although measurements can vary—slightly more or less butter or sugar, for example. The liqueur can vary according to your taste. Anisette (or sambuca) is perhaps the most common, but rum, grappa, Strega and even Grand Marnier are also popular choices. If you prefer to avoid alcohol, you can substitute orange juice. Orange zest can sub for lemon zest. And in some recipes, you dust the fried castagnole in confectioner’s sugar. I find granulated sugar coats them more thoroughly (some say it helps prevent them from drying out) and lends them their iconic glittery appearance.

They are some interesting regional variations on castagnole. For example, in Umbria they make castagnole umbre with a sambuca-scented batter rather than a proper dough, which is deep fried by the spoonful. In Le Marche, they make scroccafusi marchigiani where the dough balls are boiled before deep frying. They are sometimes tossed in melted chocolate. In Tuscany, after frying they toss them in Alkermes, a red herbal liqueur, before they’re sprinkled with sugar.

In Tuscany, after frying they toss them in Alkermes, a red herbal liqueur, before they’re sprinkled with sugar.

And if you want to get really fancy, there are also castagnole farcite, or stuffed castagnole. They can be filled with ricotta sweetened with sugar, whipped cream, crema pasticcera, pistachio cream or chocolate. You place a tiny bit of the filling in the middle of a flat round of the dough. You then wrap the dough around the filling to create your ball. (Making castagnole farcite is a rather delicate process, and one that deserves its own post, but I just wanted to flag that possibility for you.)

If you’re adverse to frying, you can bake your castagnole. Place the balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 180F/350C for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Since they will be a bit less rich than fried ones, you may want to use more sugar and/or butter in the dough to compensate.

Serving castagnole

Castagnole are at their best when freshly made, but they will keep for a few days. Keep them in an airtight container or at least covered in a towel or plastic wrap, so they don’t dry out too much.

Castagnole are lovely served with coffee or hot chocolate. Or you can serve them with some chocolate pudding for dipping. In fact, there is a famous Neapolitan chocolate pudding served at Carnival time called sanguinaccio. As the name implies, the traditional recipe called for pig’s blood, which acted as a thickener and lent a certain je ne sais quoi to the taste. Sadly, corn or potato starch has replaced pig’s blood in modern recipes. Anyway, sanguinaccio will be the topic for yet another post in the future, perhaps next year around Carnival time…

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