Pastry shells:
Makes about 3 dozen shells. 3 cups unbleached flour,
1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 3/4 cup red wine, 1 egg yolk, beaten.
In a large mixing bowl, sift flour and add sugar and cinnamon, mixing all well.
Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the wine. Stir flour into
wine, using a fork, then your hands to get a cohesive ball of dough. If too dry
add more wine. If too sticky add more flour. Roll out onto a smooth surface and
knead dough well for about 15 minutes. Dough should become quite stiff, but
smooth and satiny. Let dough rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
Using your hands, form walnut-size spheres of dough. With a rolling pin or past
machine on the thinnest setting, roll each sphere to about 5-inch diameters.
Dough should be rolled as thin as possible, holding it shape. Wrap each piece of
dough around a cannoli cylinder, using a dab of egg yolk to seal the overlap. In
a 4-quart capacity pot heat oil for deep-frying. Fry two or three (no more)
pastry shells at a time. cook until nicely browned, about 2 minutes. Gently
remove shells from oil with tongs and drain on absorbent paper. As soon as
shells are cool enough to handle slide them off the cylinder.
Note: It is best not to fill shells until they are to be served or they
will become soggy. These shells keep very well-up to about six months if stored
in well-sealed cookie tines or plastic containers.
Filling: Fills about 3 dozen shells. 2 pounds ricotta cheese, 1 cup
confectioner's sugar, 3/4 cup grated milk chocolate with almonds, 1 1/2
teaspoons cinnamon, 1 tablespoon finely chopped candied fruit (optional), 1/2
pint heavy cream, whipped.
In a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta, sugar, chocolate, cinnamon, and fruit.
Mix well. Fold in whipped cream. Pour filling into pastry shells with a pastry
bag, using a decorative tip if desired. Dust filled shells lightly with powdered
sugar.
Alternative Filling: This alternative cannoli filling is compliments of
my mother’s cousin Angelo, a professional baker. I like this filling a lot,
though it may seem less elegant than the above one: 3/4 cup cornstarch, 4 cups
milk, 2 cups sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
extract, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 3 15-ounce
containers ricotta (Polly-O is a good brand), 1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds
(optional), grated orange zest to taste (optional).
In a saucepan, slowly whisk 1 cup milk into the cornstarch, taking care not to
get lumps. Let this sit about 20 to 30 minutes. Then add the remaining milk and
the sugar and slowly heat, stirring until nice and thick and smooth. Stir in the
two extracts and allow to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally to
keep a “skin” from forming. (TIP: You can also place a piece of plastic wrap on
the very surface of the pudding to avoid skin.) Beat the cornstarch pudding well
into the remaining ingredients and pipe the filling into shells.
Notes: If the ricotta seems too wet, place it overnight in a colander
lined with paper towel or coffee filters, over a pot to separate out some whey.
For a smoother filling, you can also whip the ricotta s lightly in a food
processor. SERVING TIP: You can dip the ends of each filled cannoli in ground up
pistachios, for a pretty green effect.
