Cannoli

By Nancy Caivano

Cannoli

Serves 6

Ingredients:

10 oz ricotta
1 cup sugar, divided
6-oz mini chocolate chips, divided
2 tbsp almonds, toasted and chopped, divided
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp honey
Pinch of salt
1 whole egg
1 egg white
Additional egg white for sealing
Oil for deep-frying
Powdered sugar

Method:

Mix the ricotta with half the sugar, chocolate chips, and almonds. Refrigerate.

Mound the flour on a board, make a well in the center and pour in the wine. Add the honey, remaining sugar, salt, egg, and egg white, and knead until you have a fairly stiff dough. Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Roll dough out thinly (about 1/8") and cut into 4" squares. Wrap around cylinders (see note below), and press closed, using a little egg white to make them adhere. Heat the oil to 350 degrees F. Fry the tubes until golden brown on all sides. Drain on paper towels and cool completely. Slide the tubes of pastry off of the cylinders before completely cold.

Put ricotta mixture into a pastry bag fitted with very wide tip, and fill pastry tubes with filling. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Chocolate covered variation:
Melt 8 oz semisweet chocolate, and 4 oz white chocolate, separately. Pour semisweet chocolate over filled cannoli, and let set 5 minutes. Drizzle with white chocolate and a dusting of powdered sugar.

Notes:
To make homemade cannoli you need little metal cylinders called cannelli, which are about 3/4" in diameter and 4 in long. If they are not available, little wooden rods of the same size can be used. You can also purchase unfilled cannoli shells in most Italian bakeries, and simply make the filling, and fill.