The Culture of Flavor That Inspired Generations

Passport & Plate - Nonni's Cannolis

Italy | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 5 photos

Ingredients
Shells:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg yolk
approximately 3/4 cup dry white wine

Filling:
2 cups ricotta cheese (drained if necessary)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
healthy pinch of cinnamon
zest of 2 lemons
approximately 1/4 cup heavy cream

1 quart canola oil, for frying
flour, for rolling
1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash
ground pistachio, for dusting

 

How to prepare this recipe
Directions:

In a bowl, swift together flour, sugar, and salt before working the butter pieces into the flour with fingers until the mixture is coarse and sandy. Stir in the egg yolk using a wooden spoon, then add enough white wine to create a dough-like consistency I found 3/4 cup to be a good amount). Form the dough into a circle, flatten it into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the ricotta, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and lemon zest until smooth. Using a whisk (or hand mixer), beat the heavy cream until fluffy, then gently fold the cream into the ricotta mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and refrigerate for a half hour.

Using a heavy, medium-sized pot, heat canola oil to 360 degrees. Meanwhile, sprinkle flour on the counter and roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thick. Use a large round cookie cutter or the rim of a drinking glass to cut round. Wrap each one around a cannoli shell mold, using a bit of egg wash to seal it closed.

Submerge the molds into the oil using tongs and fry for 2 to 4 minutes, until golden brown. Use the tongs to remove the molds and let them cool before sliding the shell off the molds to cool the rest of the way.

Once shells are completely cool to the touch, use a pastry bag (or Ziploc with a corner cut off) to fill from each end, so cream runs through the whole thing. Dust ends with ground pistachio and enjoy. (Do not fill shells until right before serving, to ensure a crunchy exterior!)

 

The story behind this recipe
While I’m told I have much in common with my late grandma, it is certain that Nonni passed her love of food and cooking down to me. In fact, it turns out I come from a long line of culinarians-- my birthmom Lisa says I have “olive oil for blood and potato pickin’ feet”! In search of a better life in America, Nonni’s parents immigrated here from Grottaminarda, a town northeast of Naples. She grew up in an Italian neighborhood in Newark, where her father owned a grocery store. After meeting and marrying her German-Irish husband Paul (who came from a family of butchers), she stayed home to raise their four children.

Lisa has memories of Nonni whipping up cannoli and manicotti shells, stirring Italian wedding soup, baking bread and producing floating islands and creme brûlée as Julia Child instructed from the TV. She had a huge garden which produced giant vegetables, whose scraps she composted, and she even worked for a little while as a soup cook for a local French restaurant.

This Christmas, Lisa and my aunt Maria came to visit me in Austin and we prepared a traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes starring cioppino and traditional Caesar salad. Too stuffed to eat the cannolis we’d intended for dessert, we decided to save those for another time and exchanged presents instead.

The next day, while out for a day of fun touring around Austin, I surprised them with cannolis I’d packed for the road-- after all, it was Nonni’s birthday (December 28th) and we had to celebrate! Still in the car, we toasted her with our favorite Italian dessert and bit down into the crunchy shell and cold, creamy filling sprinkled with crushed pistachios. While I never got to meet sweet Nonni, I feel an unmistakable connection to her when I create and enjoy the same foods she grew up loving.

After years of whipping these up, Nonni didn’t use a recipe for her cannolis, but this is one I’ve tweaked and found to be quite delicious. I think Nonni would be been proud!