AUTHENTIC  ITALIAN  RECIPES

 FROM

 RISTORANTE  d'ANNAMARIA

Panzarotti (large fried ravioli)  This is just what it says.  A large raviolo (filled pasta) that has been fried instead of boiled.  You gotta hand it to these southern Italians.  They sure know how to eat.

Ingredients for 4 persons

For The Pasta:

Flour (all purpose)                        12 ounces

Lard or Vegetable Shortening   1 full ounce

Salt                                                   as needed

For the Filling:

Ricotta cheese                              4 ounces (Please read note now)

Mozzarella cheese(in a chunk)  6 ounces

Cooked Ham                                  4 ounces

Parmesan cheese                        2 ounces

Egg                                                  1 large

Parsley                                            as needed

Black Pepper                                 as needed

How To Do It

Knead the flour and lard or shortening together with a pinch of salt, adding enough warm water to make a very soft pliable dough.

Work the dough energetically until all ingredients are well mixed.

Let the dough rest covered with a damp cloth for an hour.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg.

Add the parsley to the beaten egg.

Add the ricotta to the egg and parsley and mix it around so that you, in effect, dissolve the ricotta. (Mix it so as not to leave any chunks of ricotta.)

Note: American ricotta really has about the same taste as the Italian one. They’re remarkably similar. The only real difference in them is the amount of whey left in the American version. If not drained sufficiently, it can make your filling runny so put your ricotta in a large sieve and spread it out a bit with a fork, then let it drain covered over night. This will make a real difference in the finished product.

Mix the ricotta mixture well.

Add the parmesan cheese to the mixture.

Cut the mozzarella into small bouillon sized cubes.

Finely chop the ham.

Add the mozzarella and ham to the mixture and mix well.

Cut a fist sized piece of dough off your dough ball and roll it out on a flat surface. (If it starts to stick, put a tiny bit of flour down underneath it. Just enough to prevent sticking.)

Roll out the dough to form a very thin sheet (1/16 inch thick).

Place rounded tablespoons of the filling on the sheet of dough about two or three inches apart over half of the sheet.

Fold the half with no filling on it over the half with filling balls on it and press down gently with your finger tips around each mound.  As you can see, raviolis are taking shape.

Now, with a pasta cutting wheel or a small glass cut each raviolo loose from the main sheet, one at a time and place on a lightly floured cloth.

Repeat the ravioli building process until you’ve used up all the dough and/or filling.

Deep fry the ravioli in boiling vegetable oil until they’re a golden brown color. 

Place them on absorbent paper toweling when removed from the frying oil to collect any dripping oil.

Serve very hot.