Happy St. Joseph's Day with Italian Pastry

Happy St. Joseph's Day with Puff Dough with Ricotta Pastry Filling and drizzled with chocolate.
Click here for versions of this celebrated Italian Holiday Pastry.
San Guiseppe is the day for zeppole. The pastry shops and friggitorie (fried food stands) churn them out in astonishing quantity, for eating Zeppole on the 19th is another of those traditions in Italy that must be observed. Despite their size everyone eats at least two or three, or even four, because the sweet, delicate pasta bigné, flavored with a hint of cream and one or two bits of candied cherry, is so good and a creamy delight. The current, refined version of zeppole became a tradition quite late, perhaps towards the end of the 19th century. Among the (older) cookbooks called "Tortanetti di pasta bigné" (1865); the zeppole for San Giuseppe are instead made from a flour-and-water dough that's fried, and dusted with sugar and powdered cinnamon or dipped in honey. It's known that this traditional version was quite ancient. It's also known that on March 19th they were made by the ton in pastry shop and frying stall, as well as at home, and that they were offered to guests and whoever else happened to come by and you were really especially lucky to celebrate that day if you were named Giuseppe (Joseph).


Pictured is a Ricotta filling and drizzled (click here to see the Ricotta Recipe) with a good grade of chocolate then topped with chocolate sprinkles.
Enjoy....

claudia lamascolo author