Recipe for frangette

"Frangette" are crisp delicate pastries that are very typical during the Carneval, and have different names depending on the region they are made in: in Lombardy they are called "chiacchere" or "lattughe", in Tuscany "cenci" or "donzelle", "frappe" or "sfrappole" in Emilia, "cròstoli" in Trentino, "galani" or "gale" in Veneto, "bugie" in Piemonte but also "rosoni", "lasagne", "pampuglie" and so on. As already said, on the Island of Elba they are called "frangette".

Ingredients

500 gr plain flour, 4 eggs, 4 spoonfuls of sugar, 1 small glass of Muscatel wine (local recipes usually tell you to use half a broken egg shell to measure the quantity of Muscatel but we suggest a small glass is better).

Method

Put the flour on a pastry board, make a dent in the middle and pour in the eggs, the sugar and the Muscatel.

Mix well and knead the dough until it becomes soft and springy: this is the secret if you want perfect "frangette"!

Use a rolling pin or a pasta machine to roll out a very thin layer of dough then cut it into strips using a pasta or "ravioli" cutter then tie each strip into a loose knot.

Put oil into a high-sided pan, and when it is hot fry the "frangette" turning them from time to time until they are crisp; be careful not to break them.

When they are golden, place on sheet of kitchen roll to remove any excess oil and sprinkle with caster sugar.

Photographs from La Cucina Italiana