Pizzelle Fritte – Neapolitan Fried Mini-Pizzas

Pizzelle or Montanare, Neapolitan street food, are small fried mini-pizzas made of pizza dough and topped with tomato passata and a sprinkled of grated Parmigiano Cheese.

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Makes: 14-15 pizzelle | Preparation time: 20 mins + 3h leavening | Cooking time: 20 mins

• ‘0’ or ’00’ Italian flour or Plain Flour : 500 g
• Tomato Passata or plum peeled tomatoes: 400 g
• Fine table salt: a teaspoon
• A pinch of sugar
• Fresh Brewer’s yeast: 5 g or 2,5 g dried yeast
• Room temperature tap water: 300 ml
• Fresh Basil: 4-5 leaves
• Parmigiano, grated: to taste
• extra-virgin-olive-oil, 1 lt for deep-frying + 3 tablespoons

Method

If using fresh brewer’s yeast, dissolve it in a glass with about 2 tablespoons of tap water, add a pinch of sugar, stir and wait for some foam to form. If you use the dry one, you do not need to dissolve it in water, just add it directly to the flour.

Sift the flour and place it in a bowl, add the yeast, then the water at room temperature a little at a time, stir with a wooden spoon. You will then have a soft dough, which is OK.

Start kneading the dough on a lightly floured work surface + 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Knead the dough on a lightly floured work surface until it has an even consistency, then put it back into the bowl and cover with cling film or a clean kitchen cloth. Allow the dough to rise for about 3 hours or until it has doubled in volume.

Meanwhile, brown garlic in a pan 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the tomato passata, a pinch of salt and cook about 20 mins.

Once the dough has risen, roll it out to a thickness of about 2 centimetres. Using a pastry cutter, cut out discs and give the inside a slightly concave shape.

Heat the oil and fry just 2 or 3 pizzelles at a time until golden brown.

Remove the pizzelle from the oil and place them on a plate lined with kitchen paper. Stuff the hollow side of each pizzelle with a spoonful of tomato sauce, a sprinkling of grated Parmigiano cheese and a few leaves of fresh basil.

Eat Pizzette straight away while still hot.

(13 votes, average: 4.38 out of 5)
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