Italian Carnival 'Chiacchiere'
Light, crispy, tasty and fragrant, ‘chiacchiere’ are the most typical dessert to be made and enjoyed at Carnival time.
Ingredients
4 servings
All-purpose flour 300 grams
Sugar (Granulated) 40 grams
Lemon Zest 1
Egg 2
Milk 50 ml2
Butter 25 grams
Gran Marnier 2 table-spoon
Salt 1 pinch
Seed oil 1 liter
Powdered sugar as needed
Preparation
Prepare the Dough
Take a bowl and put in the flour, the sugar, the finely grated lemon rind and a pinch of salt. Mix the ingredients and form a small hole in the centre. Now you can add the eggs, milk, melted butter and liqueur to the centre.
Mix with a fork, starting from the centre of the dough, first mixing the liquid parts and then gradually adding all the flour. Finish working the dough on a pastry board for a couple of minutes until it becomes smooth and uniform. Form a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and leave it to rest for half an hour at room temperature.
Roll out the pastry and form the chiacchiere
It is essential that the dough is rolled out very thin, a veil. You can proceed in two ways: a pastry board and rolling pin (traditional method) for the more experienced, or with the pasta machine for those who want a safe and fast result.
Divide the dough into 3 parts, then one at a time flatten them with your fingers or with a rolling pin until you have a disk 6-7 mm (¼") thick, then lightly flour and insert it into the slot of the pasta machine, pass it slowly turning the crank (in this way you will avoid that the sheet breaks) repeat the operation always flouring and decreasing from time to time the thickness until you get a sheet of 0.7-0.8 mm (1/32").
Handle the dough carefully by placing it on a pastry board. Use a sharp knife or pastry cutter to form rectangles (5x10 cm) or diamond shapes of similar size.
Your chiacchiere are ready to be cooked.
Bake and serve
Pour the frying oil into a high-sided frying pan and put it on the heat until the temperature reaches 175°C.
Chiacchere is very quick to fry so don't cook more than 2-3 pieces at a time or you risk burning them. Immerse the chiacchere in the boiling oil, on the surface in contact with the oil bubbles will immediately form and within a few seconds the chiacchere will tend to crumple.
After 4-5 seconds, turn the chiacchiera with tongs and cook the other side for the same time or a little less, remove it from the oil and place it on absorbent paper. Keeping the oil at the right temperature is important for good frying!
Finally, once you have cooked all the pieces of pastry and left them to cool, about 20 minutes, you can dust them with icing sugar on both sides. Now arrange the chiacchiere on a tray in several layers and serve.
