Saint Joseph's Day - Zeppoles

If you are Catholic AND Italian then you definitely know that zeppoles are delicious little balls of fried dough dusted with powdered sugar and served on St. Joseph's Day.

So of course, any excuse to fry dough sounds really good to me! To make them, I actually combine two recipes, one for the zeppoles and another for the filling.

At the San Gennaro fesival in NYC every year they are just served, sans filling, coated in powdered sugar and usually in a paper bag to absorb the grease.

Mine are light and fluffy due to the fact that they are pan fried in olive oil. They are no means healthy but every little bit helps, right? Fill a deep frying pan with olive oil, about 2 inches deep and turn them when they puff up and get nice and brown.

My grandmother always filled them with a cannoli like filling which I'm not sure is traditional but is very good. That recipe comes from Leone's Italian Cookbook. The book was published in 1967 and is a true classic. Alot of my father's childhood food memories come from this book.

So this post is dedicated to my dad, whose name in Joseph and inspires me to be the best cook I can be.

Happy Saint Joseph's Day Dad

Zeppole Dough (adapted from Giada De Larentiis)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs
Olive oil, for frying

In a medium saucepan combine the butter, salt, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Take pan off the heat and stir in the flour. Return pan to the heat and stir continuously until mixture forms a ball, about 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the flour mixture to a medium bowl. Using an electric hand mixer on low speed, add eggs, 1 at a time, incorporating each egg completely before adding the next. Beat until smooth. If not frying immediately, cover with plastic wrap and reserve in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, pour enough oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F.

Using a small ice-cream scooper or 2 small spoons, carefully drop about a tablespoon of the dough into the hot olive oil, frying in batches. Turn the zeppole once or twice, cooking until golden and puffed up, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Filling (adapted from Gene Leone, Leone's Italian Cookbook)
1 c ricotta
2 Tbl sugar
2 Tbl rum
1 c heavy cream, whipped

Drain cheese in cheese cloth for 15 minutes to remove excess moisture. Mix with sugar and rum. Fold in the heavy cream and pipe into cooled zeppoles