Preparation / Directions:
Heat olive oil to 350F. Carefully drop Cream Puff Pastry batter, by tablespoonfuls, into hot oil, using finger or another spoon to dislodge dough. Fry small batches or oil will cool off and fritters will be soggy. Fritters will urn themselves over (as bottom of fritter cooks it expands and becomes lighter than top, which keeps fritters turning). If fritters don't turn, turn with spoon. Fritters should almost triple in volume. When fritters are golden brown, remove with slotted spoon to dish lined with paper towels to drain excess, oil.
Or tear open fritters and fill with Ricotta Filling and dust with powdered sugar. Serve immediately. Fritters are best hot; they do not keep well and cannot be reheated successfully. Heap on plate and serve. Makes about 25 fritters.
Note. Fritters may be eaten unfilled. After frying, simply dust fritters generously with powdered sugar.
For cream puff pastry Place water, butter and sugar in heavy saucepan and bring to boil over high heat. Add flour all at once, lower heat, and stir vigorously with wooden spoon until batter makes soft cohesive mass that does not stick to sides of saucepan. Keep stirring batter over low heat about 2 minutes. When dough is quite cohesive and maintains ball shape as you spin it around pan, remove pan from heat.
Transfer mass of dough to bowl to cool about 10 minutes. When tepid, add 1 egg at time, beating in thoroughly. Batter should be firm enough to stand up in peaks. More eggs will increase fluffiness. Do not make dough too sot. Dough must hold shape readily when pushed around with spoon. Before adding last egg, test batter in hot oil.
Dough is best used just after making. Dough can be stored, covered, in refrigerator up to 2 days. Let dough come slowly to room temperature before using and rebet dough.
For Ricotta Filling Combine ricotta, chocolate, powdered sugar, vanilla, fruit and nuts in bowl and mix well. Whip cream until thick and fold into other ingredients in bowl. Filling can be made up to 1 day ahead and stored in refrigerator.
In his book "The Food of Southern Italy," Carlo Middione writes that there is a dish "without which no Southern Italian could live: Sfinci di San Giuseppe." As the name implies, the fritters, filled with ricotta, are traditionally served on St. Joseph's Day. But they're so delicious they make good eating any day of the ye
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