(Carnival fritters, Italy-style - Our recipe)

Castagnole, Carnival fritters from Italy

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200 g (7 oz) all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting
100 g (3 1/2 oz) sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
3 tablespoons Strega liqueur or other liqueur
3 teaspoons baking powder
Oil for frying
Icing sugar for dusting

Time:
preparation: 20 minutes
cooking: 15 minutes
Difficulty:
easy recipe
Nutrition Facts (amount per serving):
Calories: 331 (kCal) 17 % GDA - 1385 (kJ)
Protein: 7.3 (g) 14 % GDA
Total fat: 6.6 (g) 9 % GDA
Total carbohydrate: 64.8 (g) 24 % GDA
Sugars: 25.7 (g) 28 % GDA

We are going to present you our personal version of this great fried cakes for Carnival. In Italy we use to serve fritters at Carnival time.

Put the flour together with baking powder and sugar in a bowl or on a work surface. Make a well in the centre and add the beaten egg, olive oil and liqueur.
Slowly draw in the flour from the edge of the well, stirring, and work until a smooth, elastic dough forms.
Roll out on lightly floured surface the dough, beginning from the center, to a thickness of 2-3 cm (1in); you have to use a long pasta rolling pin for this.
Cut the dough into strips, vertically and horizontally. You have to obtain square or rectangle shapes.
Make a cross cut on the surface of everyone.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet; add the castagnole and cook until light golden brown on both sides. You need only few minutes.
Remove them with a slotted spoon and put on absorbent paper to remove the fat in excess. Sprinkle with icing sugar. Let them cool down and serve immediately

Note

- Serve them warm. You can also bake castagnole for a low fat and calories recipe.
- The doses are enough for about 30 castagnole. Serve four people: don't eat too much fried food!
- Serve them as a snack in the afternoon; if you cook them for your children substitute liqueur with orange juice. Prepare them for a carnival party; in this case serve them with other sweets and savoury cakes.
- There are a lot of versions in Italy about this kind of fritters. You can use unsalted butter instead of olive oil, you can also add lemon rind to the dough ...
- It's very difficult to have the real amount of the frying oil and icing sugars.
So nutrition facts don't include these ingredients. If you want to include these ingredients, you have to add 100-150 kcal per 100 g of this dish.