The Lucanian crostole with honey They are a traditional dessert from Basilicata, often served during the Christmas season. Below is the recipe for making them at home and impressing your guests with a touch of sweetness.
Ingredients
- 1 kg of “00’ flour
- 4 eggs
- 100 g extra virgin olive oil (for the dough)
- 100 g of sugar
- a pinch of salt
- dry white wine, to taste.
- seed oil for frying (preferably extra virgin olive oil)
Instructions
- On a work surface, form a mound of sifted 00 flour with a well in the centre.
- Once you’ve beaten the eggs, add them to the flour along with the other ingredients: the oil, the sugar and a pinch of salt.
- Pour some dry white wine into a bowl: this will help with the dough.
- Mix the ingredients and knead the dough, adding a little wine from time to time to ensure it all blends together properly.
- Roll out the dough patiently with a rolling pin, though you can also use a hand-cranked pasta machine.
- Once the pastry sheets are ready, use a serrated wheel to cut them into strips about 2 cm wide.
- Fold them in half and press the edges together with your fingertips, leaving a gap of about 1/1.5 cm.
- Roll the strips up onto themselves to form roses.
- Place them on baking paper and leave to rest for at least 6 hours.
- Once they’ve rested, it’s time to fry them – preferably in olive oil.
- Pour the oil into a deep frying pan and heat it up.
- Dip the cartellate in one at a time until golden brown.
- Drain them and place them on a tray lined with kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil.
- Top with soft honey, as it should not be heated to prevent it from losing its nutritional properties.
- Alternatively, they can be dusted with icing sugar or, as is traditional in Puglia, with vincotto.
