Susie

If you haven’t tried these delicious little cheese pockets, you are in for a treat! Fugassette literally translates to ‘little fugassa with cheese.’ It originated in the Ligurian region of Italy, and can be considered a variation on the famous Fugassa di Recco, a cheese filled fugassa. The ingredients are similar — flour, salt, water, and olive oil– all that’s missing is the yeast. Roll the dough thin and create a pocket for the cheese, and then fry them up.

In Italy, Fugassette are typically filled with Stracchino, a type of Italian cow’s-milk cheese, typical of Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto, and Liguria. It is eaten very young, has no rind and a very soft, creamy texture, normally mild and delicate in flavor and makes the perfect melting cheese. If you can’t find Stracchino, Crescenza would be the next best choice. If you can’t find either of those, you could substitute a young mild flavored Brie, Teleggio, or Teleme, If you decide to use Brie, avoid using double or triple cream because the high butter fat content doesn’t hold up as well when frying.

Traditionally, Fugassette do not include herbs, but I couldn’t help myself and added some dried thyme. Feel free to omit the herbs, if you prefer. Serve as an appetizer with a glass of wine or as a main course alongside some mixed greens. Who am I kidding? Greens don’t stand a chance alongside these!

To begin, add flour, salt, water and olive oil to the bowl of a stand mixer.

Using the dough hook, knead the dough for five minutes. If the dough is too sticky, you may need to add a bit more flour. It should have the consistency of pasta dough, pulling away from the sides of the mixing bowl, leaving the bowl relatively clean. After kneading for five minutes, it should look like this.

Transfer the dough to a well floured work surface and form it into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes. This allows the gluten in the dough to relax, making it easier to roll later.

While you are waiting for the dough, set up the frying station. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and a wire rack. Then, fill a heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven with olive oil about 3″ deep and heat the olive oil to 350°F.

Once the dough has rested, use a pastry cutter or knife to cut off an egg sized chunk of dough. Using a pasta machine, pass the dough through the rollers until the sheets are about 1/8″ in thickness. On my Kitchen Aid attachment, I rolled it until I got to number 4. If you don’t have a pasta machine, a rolling pin will do the trick.

Using a pastry cutter, or a knife, trim two sheets of dough so they are roughly 12 inches long. This will make three 4″x6″ Fugassette once you are done assembling.

Space the cheese out on the dough so each Fugassette will be filled with one tablespoon of cheese. Leave a 1″ margin around the edges, so that when you cut the Fugassette into rectangles, the cheese will be in the center. Sprinkle with dried thyme.

Place the other sheet of dough on top to cover the cheese. Use your fingers to press around the cheese gently, eliminating as much air as possible. Using a fluted ravioli cutter or knife, cut the dough to make rectangles.

Then, crimp the edges with a fork.

Using a kitchen spider, carefully submerge the Fugassette in the hot oil and allow to fry until golden brown. Then flip and brown the other side.

When they are done, use your kitchen spider to remove them from the oil and lay them on a drying rack to drain. Fugassette are at their best when they are piping hot so keep them warm in the oven until you are ready to serve. Enjoy!

Homemade doughnuts? Why not! While it may sound a bit daunting, it’s not nearly as difficult as it sounds, it just requires a bit of planning. Most of the time is hands off, just prep the dough and set it in the fridge overnight and I promise you, the results are incredible! In this recipe, the doughnut is made from a brioche dough, then stuffed with a Meyer lemon pastry cream and rolled in granulated sugar to give it added texture. The result is heavenly, a light and tender doughnut stuffed with silky lemon infused pastry cream and a sugary crust that sticks to your lips with every bite!

Note: These doughnuts can be customized any way you like. Fill a pastry bag with Nutella, or your favorite jelly or custard, or make a few of each. You can even glaze the doughnuts instead of rolling them in sugar. Dip them in melted chocolate or a maple glaze. Let your imagination run wild!

To begin, grease a large bowl with oil, or a non stick spray. Put the flour and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, and then add the sugar, salt, milk, eggs, and vanilla paste (or extract) and mix on low speed for 5 minutes.

Add the butter a few pieces at a time, making sure each batch is fully incorporated before adding the next. Continue until all the butter has been added to the dough. Mix for a total of 30 minutes on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl, as necessary.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and use a rolling pin to form a rectangle. Don’t worry if it is not perfectly shaped, it really doesn’t matter.

Fold the left side over to the right, the right over to the left,

Then, the top to the bottom and the bottom to the top so you have an envelope with the seam at the top.

Place the dough seam-side down in the prepared bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. This prevents the dough from developing a skin as it rests. Cover with plastic wrap, and set aside for 1 hour. After the dough has rested, repeat the folding process, put it back in the bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

For the pastry cream, combine the milk and lemon zest in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. When the milk begins to steam, remove it from the heat. Do not allow the milk to boil. Set the mixture aside to cool.

• Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs and sugar together for about a minute.

Sift the cornstarch and salt and then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and continue to whisk, until the mixture is homogeneous.

• While the stand mixer is continuously whisking, add a cup of the milk to the egg mixture. Gradually add all the hot milk.

Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and over medium heat, whisk continuously for about 5 minutes, until the mixture thickens. Do not allow it to come to a boil. Once the mixture has thickened, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool slightly. Add the butter and whisk it into the mixture until it is fully incorporated.

Transfer the mixture to a glass bowl, cover it with plastic wrap in direct contact with the pastry cream. Allow it to cool for 15-20 minutes and then refrigerate until ready to use.

• After the dough has set in the refrigerator overnight, lightly flour your work surface and roll out the dough to a 12 inch wide circle. Using a 3″ biscuit cutter, cut out as many rounds of dough as you can. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet until you are ready to fry them. Use a small biscuit cutter or even a knife to make doughnut holes out of the scraps, re-rolling the dough as necessary. I never let any of the dough go to waste!

Transfer the doughnuts to a parchment lined baking sheet, cover them with plastic wrap and allow them to proof for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The yeast will continue to ferment, releasing gasses that will cause the dough to rise.

Meanwhile, fill a heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven with vegetable oil, making sure there is at least 3 inches of oil in the pot. Heat the oil to 350°F.  

Then, set up your frying station. Place a cooling rack and a bowl filled with granulated sugar near the pot of oil. Once the doughnuts are proofed, remove the plastic wrap and place them near your pot of oil. Using a kitchen spider, lower one doughnut at a time into the oil. I was able to fit about three at a time, but don’t overcrowd the pot or you will lower your oil temperature. Fry for 2 minutes, or until the doughnut is golden brown and then flip it and fry on the other side for 1 minute.

Once the doughnut is cooked, remove it from the oil and place it on the cooling rack. Allow it to cool slightly and then transfer it to the bowl of granulated sugar, rolling it around so the sugar sticks to all sides of the doughnut. Place it back on the cooling rack and repeat the process with the rest of the doughnuts.

Once all the doughnuts are cooked, fill the piping bag with the pastry cream. Using a knife, make a small slit on the side (or top) of the doughnut, carefully insert the piping tip and squeeze the pastry cream into the doughnut, filling it with as much cream as it will comfortably hold. As you fill the doughnut, pull the piping bag out slowly, so your doughnuts don’t explode from the pressure.

And savor! I guarantee they wont last long!

Rum Soaked Raisin Fritters are light and airy and warm and custardy, all at once, releasing a subtle flavor of spiced rum with every bite. The dough is similar in nature to a choux pastry, which is a light pastry dough, used in many European pastries, such as Profiteroles. Instead of a using a rising agent, like baking powder or yeast, it relies on the steam generated from the moisture in the ingredients to puff the pastry. In this recipe, I add rum to the dough to accentuate the flavor of the rum raisins and add a small amount of cornstarch to the recipe to make the fritters even crispier. To serve, dust the fritters with confectioners sugar, roll them in granulated sugar or drizzle them with dark chocolate.

Note: While you can use any type of oil you prefer, olive oil adds a light fruity note that you can’t get with anything else.

This recipe yields about 3 dozen fritters.

To begin, preheat the oven to 225°F. Cover the raisins in rum and put them in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Allow them to soak for about 10-15 minutes or until plump and softened.

Over medium high heat, combine the water, rum, butter, sugar and salt. Heat until the butter is melted.

Sift the flour and cornstarch together, and then add the flour to the butter mixture and stir for 2-3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball.

Transfer the dough to the bowl of stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix the dough until it is no longer steaming. Then, add the eggs, one at a time, making sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next.

Strain the raisins and add them to the batter and mix to combine.

Add olive oil to a pot so it measures about 4 inches high and heat over medium high heat until it reaches 375°-390°F, basically, as hot as you can get it without reaching the smoke point. The smoke point for olive oil is about 400°F. The hotter the oil, the crispier the fritter.

Without overcrowding the pot, cook the fritters in batches. Drop one tablespoon of batter at a time into the oil. Flip the fritters halfway through the cooking process. Fry for a total of about 4 to 5 minutes. When they are a deep golden brown, remove them with a slotted spoon or a kitchen spider.

Maintaining oil temperature is always a little tricky, unless you’re using a deep fryer. Check the thermometer often. Once I brought the oil to about 375°F, I was able to keep my stove on low heat to maintain the temp fairly consistently. Be patient and don’t rush the cooking.

Roll the fritters in granulated sugar, or if you prefer, omit this step and dust with confectioner’s sugar before serving.

Place the fritters on a drying rack and keep them warm in the oven while you cook the rest.