Ingredients
For 8 fried cartocci
500 g 00 flour
50 g Sugar
50 g Lard
250 g Milk (room temperature)
1 Egg
8 g Salt
sachet brewer’s yeast
to taste Peanut seed oil (for frying)
For the ricotta cream
400 g Sheep’s milk ricotta (well strained)
200 g Sugar
50 g Chocolate chips
to taste Sugar (for “sweetening!”)
Equipment
aluminum canes about 12 cm
Preparation
Prepare the filling: sift the ricotta cheese (often not necessary if you have excellent sheep’s milk ricotta, which already looks like cream itself), then add the sugar, mix and place in the refrigerator.
Prepare the dough.
Extend the rising time and you can halve the amount of yeast.
Melt the lard and let it cool; I generally melt it down to half and remove it from the heat or microwave so that it continues to melt and cool faster.
Put the flour in a bowl along with the sugar, then make a well and crumble the fresh yeast or packet of dry yeast into the center.
Add a little milk taken from the total and mix.
Add the egg, then beat with a fork while continuing to slowly incorporate the flour in the center.
Continue adding the melted and cold lard, then the rest of the milk a little at a time.
Add the salt, then continue to knead with your hands, on a lightly floured work surface (just a dusting of flour).
Knead for about 15 minutes until you have a nice, firm, smooth dough.
Cover with a tea towel, then put it to rise in a warm place, ideally the oven off with the small light on.
Let rise for about 2 hours until doubled!
Take the dough again, then break off pieces of about 100 g each and form them into sausages about 40 cm long.
Roll them up in lightly oiled aluminum straws. “Block” the tip at the beginning under the first round, finally insert the end inside the last round.
DO NOT pull the dough as you roll it, make only three, max 4 turns, letting the two ends stick out of the torch, during rising in fact those will be reached too!
Place again to rise for about an hour and a half, then fry the cartocci in deep but not very hot oil, they should brown slowly so they cook well.
As you do so, arrange the fried cartocci on a tray with paper towels.
Allow them to cool, then remove the aluminum foil torch.
Combine the chocolate chips with the sweetened ricotta, then put the cream in a piping bag with a wide nozzle or simply cut!
Fill the pastry cases and finally gently roll them in caster sugar.