Wednesday 16 February 2011

Italian recipes: How to make traditional Italian Carnival's Frappe

Tuesday the 8th of March 2011 will be the last day of almost two weeks of Carnival celebrations for millions of people in Europe and other Catholic countries. In Italy we call it "Martedi` Grasso", that like in French means "Fat Tuesday" . It is the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent that for observant Roman Catholics is the start of 40 days of fasting and absinence before Easter. That's why Fat Tuesday is in theory the last day you could have fat and very rich food, indulge in parties and let yourself go a bit more than you should... And that's why, before it is too late, I want to give you the recipe of my favourite traditional Italian Carnevale's sweet: frappe. But they are fattening, I warn you, otherwise they would not be part of Martedi`Grasso celebrations! Enjoy!

Recipe for Frappe (also called Chiacchere):

ingredients:

250g flour, 80gr sugar, 2 eggs, caster sugar, olive oil, orange and lemon peel, sweet wine, salt to taste.

Making it:

Pour the flour onto a suitable work surface and mix in the sugar, salt and a couple of spoons of the wine of choice, along with the whole eggs. Create a soft pastry and put it to one side for around 30 minutes. Then roll the pastry into a thin 'sfoglia'. Cut out the frappe to your preferred shape with a knife and fry in hot olive oil. When they are a golden colour, remove and place on absorbent kitchen paper. Finish by presenting all the cenci on a single serving tray and sprinkled with copious caster sugar.








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