Sweet Frittura

A frittura in Italian cooking can really mean any sort of "fry up" of crispy delicacies. Mostly the term is known with calimari, a popular dish here in America, but I thought I would introduce you to a traditional Piemonte dessert called "Sweet Frittura."

What is Piemonte you ask? I'm sure you've heard of Romans, Venetians and Napoletan people. Well, the Piedmont region of Italy is in the northwest part of Italy, bordering France and Switzerland. Asti (Asti Spumante anyone?) is the biggest city in the region.

Man I would really dig a flute of spumante right now, but that's beside the point.



On to the recipe. This is from my Nonni (grandparents), and I got it from my mother. You know this kind of recipe. It is the hand written recipe that you have kept in a forgotten home made cookbook, barely kept on the page with an old piece of tape. You pull out the cookbook when you're looking for something different to do, and it's like visiting with an old friend.

But this friend is sweet and fried. That is the best kind of friend folks.

Now, this is not my picture, but is exactly what sweet frittura, or frittura dolce, should look like. The original picture was taken from this site.

Here's the recipe!

31/2 cup mixture of milk and water
1 cup cream of wheat
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
egg
unseasoned breadcrumbs
olive oil and butter for frying

Bring liquids to almost boiling. Cook until extremely thick. Turn out onto foil covered, non-stick sprayed board and let cool. Spread out to 1/2" thickness and let it cool. After completely cook, cut into diamond or square shapes. Dip pieces in egg and unseasoned bread crumbs. Fry until golden in mixture of olive oil and butter.

Trust me, you will love this!