Torta Fritta Fried Dough Italian Style Food

ITALIAN PIZZA FRITTA FRIED DOUGH

Steps:

• Mix until dough forms a smooth dough and if still sticky add a little more flour by a tablespoon at a time.
• Place in a bowl, cover with a towel that has been dampened and wait until double in size as it rises.
• Stretch out around two tablespoons of dough into a circle poking a hole in the center like a doughnut or shape into small round balls.
• . Place on a cookie sheet, lined with floured parchment paper.
• In the meantime, heat the oil in a fry pan, on medium-low heat.
• Place a little piece of dough, (the size of a dime) in the oil to see if it sizzles and it hot enough.
• Place the stretched out the dough or dough balls, into the oil and fry on both sides until golden brown.
• Take out of oil when done, place on paper towels to drain oil.
• Sprinkle with regular white sugar, powdered sugar or flavored sugar such as cinnamon and sugar.

TORTA FRITA (URUGUAYAN FRIED SWEET BREAD)

Steps:

• In a big bowl, add flour, salt, baking powder, and beef tallow. Use a pastry cutter or 2 knives to cut the fat into the flour. (Alternately, mix the ingredients together in a stand mixer, with a dough hook.)
• Add water and mix with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Knead it for a couple of minutes. Cover it and let it rest for 10 minutes.
• After resting, knead the dough for 5 minutes, or until soft.
• Separate the dough into 8 portions. Roll each portion between the palm of your hand and a flat surface to create a ball. Cover with a slightly damp kitchen towel and let them rest for 10 minutes.
• In a deep and wide pot, heat the oil to 375F, over medium-low heat.
• After the last resting of the dough, you should be able to stretch the dough by hand into about a 7 inch circle. If this is not possible, just flour a flat surface, and use a rolling pin to make a 7-inch circle. Cut a line in the middle.
• Fry the breads, one at a time. Fry for a few seconds and then flip. Let it brown on that side, then flip again and brown the other side.
• Remove from the oil and place on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Dust with sugar and serve. (Best served immediately.)

TORTA FRITTA (FRIED DOUGH ITALIAN STYLE)

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine milk and 1 1/3 cups water. Heat to 110F or until warm to touch; remove from heat.
• In a large bowl, combine 5 cups of the flour, yeast and salt; make a well. Add olive oil and warm milk mixture and, using a wooden spoon, stir until dough just starts to form.
• Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead until soft and elastic, adding more flour by the tablespoon as needed to keep dough from being too sticky, about 15 minutes.
• Transfer dough to a clean bowl, cover with a clean dishtowel, and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.
• Punch down dough and turn out onto a lightly-floured surface. Roll out to a ¼ inch thick rectangle, and cut into (about 50) 2 by 3 inch rectangles, transferring cut pieces to a sheet of parchment paper with space between each piece.
• Fill a deep saucepan with 1½ inches peanut oil and heat to 365F Fry dough pieces in batches, turning them before they are halfway done, until puffed and golden brown on both sides, about 1½ minutes total.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer torta frittas to paper towels in order to drain. Serve immediately.

ZEPPOLI (ITALIAN FRIED BREAD DOUGH )

Steps:

• Heat about 3 inches of oil in a saucepan to 375°F (119°C).
• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water; set aside for 10 minutes.
• Stir the remaining 1/2 cup water into the bowl.
• Add flour, beating vigorously until a soft dough forms.
• Turn the dough out onto a smooth surface, and knead with greased hands until smooth.
• Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn to coat the surface.
• Cover with a damp cloth.
• Let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about 1 to 1/1/2 hours.
• Fry golf ball sizes of dough in batches until golden brown.
• Drain on paper towels.
• Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, and eat while still hot.

PIZZA FRITTA - ITALIAN FRIED PIZZA

Steps:

• Heat up the passata in a small saucepan along with the garlic and olive oil. Simmer for a few minutes for the flavours to infuse, then switch off the heat. Note: Skip this step if you want to use plain passata.
• Sprinkle flour over a clean work surface and your fingers, then portion out pizza dough into pieces roughly the size of your fist. Flatten and stretch the dough out into rough circles around 1 cm / 0.4 inch thick and 10-15 cm / 4-6 inch wide.
• Pour vegetable oil into a small frying pan until it's just covering the bottom of the pan by about 0.5 cm / 0.2 inch. Heat through. Test with a wooden chopstick or toothpick and when bubbles form on the tip, it's ready to start frying.
• Stretch each piece of dough out again just before cooking so it cooks evenly. Fry each piece separately for 1 minute per side until golden brown and puffy. Drain on paper towel.
• Top fried dough with quick pizza sauce or passata, mozzarella / bocconcini and fresh basil leaves or your chosen pizza toppings. Garnish with freshly grated parmesan.