Another super Sweet Recipe: Fried Carnival Pastries the Chiacchiere… “Chiacchiere” are a crunchy and crumbly holidays pastry sheets, usually made during Carnival time.

Check this out, their names change in almost every Italian region:

• chiacchiere (i.e. small talk) and lattughe (i.e. “lettuce”) in Lombardy,
• cenci (“rags”) and donzelle (“damsels”) in Tuscany,
• frappe and sfrappole in Emilia,
• cròstroli in Trentino,
• galani e gale in Veneto,
• bugie (“lies”) in Piedmont,
• as well as rosoni, or lasagne in Abruzzo.

Their origins dates back to the Roman period, when pastries named “frictilia” were fried and offered during Saturnalia, one of the pagan rites that are supposed to be the roots of Carnival.

Frictilia were served to the feasting people on the streets, were easy to cook in great amounts at a very low cost. This custom reached our times, with little changes to the basic recipe and to the local traditions.

Basic “Chiacchiere” are fried zig-zagged stripes of pastry, dusted with powdered sugar; but honey, cocoa and alchermes can be used, too. They can be served with dark chocolate, or with mascarpone or zabaglione cream. In the past, also with “sanguinaccio” – a sweet blood pudding made of pork blood, chocolate and orange zest.

They come in many shapes: knots, bows, or in rectangular shape with a central slit or even stuffed – just like ravioli – with marmalade or chocolate.

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Recipe for Sara’s Carnival Pastry: the Chiacchiere

[servings: 40 pieces | time: 1 hour | difficulty: easy]
| Please note that the info and directions provided for the recipe are indicative: the end result may vary from person to person |

Ingredients

500 g wheat flour (Italian 00)
70 g sugar
50 g butter
3 eggs (medium-size)
1 egg yolk
6 g of baking powder (for dessert)
1 shot glass of anisette liqueur (about 30 g)
1 orange (zest only)
orange marmalade (or other) to taste
oil for frying (peanut)
powder sugar to taste

Directions

1. Let’s start with the dough – Sift the flour with baking powder, add eggs, sugar, softened butter, anisette liqueur and the orange zest. Knead the ingredients until you get a smooth dough;
2. divide the dough into two parts, and let it rest for 30 minutes.
3. For classic “Chiacchiere – Roll out one part of the dough, until you get a 2-3 mm thick sheet; use a pastry wheel to cut rectangular shapes about 5×10 cm;
4. in the middle of each rectangle cut a 5-6 cm slit. In order to get the “bow” shape, insert the short edge into the cut.
5. For “Sweet ravioli” – Roll out the other part of dough, until you get a wide rectangle and cut long strips. Place some jam in tiny heaps, fold the strip onto the longer edge to seal the ravioli, and cut them out with the pastry wheel.
5. Frying – Heat a generous amount of (peanut) oil into a high pot, fry the “chiacchiere” until they turn into a crunchy golden color.
6. Drain them onto some paper towel (to remove as much oil as possible), and let it cool.
7. Dust them with powder sugar and serve. (Mine were served with a mascarpone cream).

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