Potpourri with Rosemarie

While the bakeries sold fancy concoctions for the feast day, my Italian grandmother used a fast and easy traditional recipe for a bite-sized donut covered in powdered sugar, resembling a beignet.  You can whip up a batch in about ten minutes – best when hot.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs well beaten
• 1 cup whole milk ricotta

Directions

Mix dry ingredients together.  Stir vanilla and ricotta into beaten eggs.  Combine dry and wet ingredients.  The dough will be sticky.

Heat about 2 inches oil (the only oil my grandmother used for everything was olive oil but you can use vegetable oil, if you prefer) in a pot.

When oil is hot, drop a  tablespoon of dough into the oil and fry until puffed and brown – about 3 minutes – flipping over about halfway through.  Try your test donut to check the timing – break it open and eat it.

Continue cooking, about three or four at a time.  Then transfer finished zeppole to a dish with a paper towel to absorb the oil.  Roll in powdered sugar and eat hot. Try not to eat them all yourself.