This recipe originates from the Sardinian Frisjiole. Since I don’t use animal milk, I used what I had at home: coconut drink and white wine. The original recipe would use milk and a little aquavit or aniseed liqueur.

This recipe is for about ten 7-8 cm diameter swirl fritters, including the mistakes and the first clumsy circles for tasting them. 😉

They are crunchy and not very sweet, they keep in a tin box without the decoration even 4-5 days without problems. And they make a great gift for a best friend.

Ingredients

For the fritters

• 300 g re-milled durum wheat semolina
• 100 g white wine
• 100 g coconut (or other) drink or milk
• 40 g orange juice
• orange and lemon zest to taste
• 90 g sugar
• 21 g dry brewer’s yeast or 9 g fresh yeast
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 litre and a half at least (even two!) peanut oil

For decorating the fried swirls

• 50 g orange juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• a few drops of lemon juice
• icing sugar to taste

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Preparation methodology

Put all the ingredients except the salt in a bowl and mix with a whisk. Add the salt last because it can interfere with the rising process if it comes into contact with the yeast.

Take the cling film. Cover and leave to rise for an hour and a half to three hours. It depends on how warm your environment is and the humidity. The dough should have grown up and presented bubbles on the surface.

Gently transfer it, with the help of a spatula, into the piping bag. The nozzle should be as smooth as possible and at least half a cm wide.

Put the oil in your Ghisanativa. The quantities indicated are those necessary for a 24 cm diameter. Equip yourself with a tool that can withstand high temperatures and can help you turn or remove the swirls during cooking.

Preheat the oil to 180°C. Pour in two or three swirls at a time to prevent the oil from getting too hot. If it does, the food will absorb a lot of oil. To make the fritters, start in the centre with the nozzle of the piping bag about one cm from the oil and draw the swirls, spreading them out to the desired size. Beware of splattering, you must be very careful at this stage. Turn them over at least once, to ensure even cooking. Just see when they are golden brown. I took one minute per fritter to cook.

Fried citrus fruit swirls

Remember to measure the oil with each new batch because the Ghisanativa heat build-up may change the temperature measured at the beginning, while the pan was still heating up.

Place the freshly fried swirls on absorbent paper and move them around so that the surface oil is absorbed by the paper.

To serve these fritters, reduce the orange juice with a few drops of lemon and the sugar in a small pan over low heat for about 10 minutes. A thick syrup should form. Be careful, because as it cools in the pot while it is still hot, it will tend to harden. So turn it off as soon as you see that it begins to resist and drips more slowly than the original liquid.

Serve the swirls with the syrup, as if it were honey and icing sugar. If you put the syrup on, of course, the swirls tend to go mouldy, so it is best to do this operation close to consumption.

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Roberta de Salvador

“From Belluno with love, omnivorous and publicist journalist with a passion for food and wine. She graduated in Communication Sciences and then did a 10 kg master’s degree at Gambero Rosso, kilos she lost with a healthy diet and lots of walking in the mountains. The recipes she shares with us revisit traditional Italian cuisine and are repeatable even for those who are not PRO cooks.”

This recipe was prepared on