The Ligurian Fugassin, a leavened recipe with boiled potatoes in the dough and then fried, a true delight characteristic of the Loano area, Finale Ligure.
Fugassin are excellent either consumed plain or filled with cold cuts or cheese according to your taste, great either hot right after cooking or also at room temperature and the potatoes in the dough keep them soft even the next day.
The recipe is taken from the site VISIT FINALE LIGURE with very small changes in the cooking method, as the original recipe calls for cooking in extra virgin olive oil but we opted for frying oil for a lighter fry, acknowledging that cooking with evo oil makes them tastier and more fragrant.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Affordable
- Rest time: 4 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4 generous servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for Ligurian Fugassin:
- 9 oz potatoes
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 packet dry yeast
- 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- as needed lukewarm natural water
- 2 tsps fine salt
- as needed frying oil
Tools for Ligurian Fugassin:
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Kneading board
- 1 Pan
Steps for Preparing and Cooking Fugassin:
Take the potatoes, wash them well, and boil them with the skin on. You can steam them, use a pressure cooker (ready in less than 10 minutes), or a microwave. We recently purchased the potato cooking bag, and in 5 minutes they’re ready. Or, you can cook them in a saucepan with a steaming basket, a little water, and a lid; in this case, cooking times are longer, about 15 minutes.
Peel the potatoes once cooked
Mash them in a potato masher and let them cool well.
In a glass, put 100 ml (3.4 oz) of lukewarm water, add the dry yeast, and stir well so that the yeast dissolves completely.
In a large bowl, put the flour, the mashed potatoes now cooled, the water with dissolved dry yeast, and the oil.
With a spoon, mix the ingredients well. When you see that they begin to combine, add the fine salt. Work until you obtain a homogeneous mixture and then transfer it to a kneading board.
If necessary, add a little lukewarm water, but very little because during the leavening with the potatoes the mixture tends to be soft; with more water, it becomes difficult to work with.
When you get a smooth and homogeneous dough, put it in a bowl, cover with a cloth, and let it rise until doubled, 3/4 hours (depending on the warmth in the house).
After the time has passed, roll out a sheet about 0.4 inches thick (dust the board with plenty of flour before rolling out the sheet), then cut strips of 1.6 inches and each strip into pieces no larger than 4 inches; we made them in different sizes.
Dust with flour and let rest for about 15 minutes, then in a pan heat some frying oil and when hot, cook the fugassin, turning them when the base is golden.
Place the fugassin on a plate lined with absorbent paper (so they lose excess oil), sprinkle them with plenty of fine salt.
Transfer them to a plate and serve them nice and hot; if you like, you can also fill them with cold cuts and cheeses.
