I put all my effort to write down the recipe for our castagnole just in time! Our castagnole… I mean, mom’s.😊

These are the Carnival castagnole that she’s been making since I was a child, the classic recipe from our home, which for me is not only a Carnival recipe but also a birthday recipe. Yes, my birthday almost always falls during the peak days of Carnival, and for this reason, castagnole are almost never missing. There are many photos to prove it, always next to the cake with candles and pastries on the table there are also the Carnival castagnole, strictly prepared by mom.

When I was a child, I didn’t even notice, for me it was a normal thing to celebrate with castagnole, also because… they were always there anyway, even after Carnival! Oh, how wonderful to have a birthday in February! 😃

👇 My Carnival recipes: 😉🎉

Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Economic
Preparation time: 5 Minutes
Portions: 6
Cooking methods: Frying
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Winter

Ingredients

3.2 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons olive oil (or seed oil is fine too)
1 tablespoon ricotta
1 tablespoon anise liqueur (or white grappa)
1 packet baking powder
lemon zest (a little grated)
10.5 oz lard (250 g (8.8 oz) may also be enough)

Tools

Casserole

Steps

Before describing the procedure…
Three considerations about the ingredients: talking with mom just this morning, I learned some details (because when I say that I like to cook by eye… who do you think I got it from?):
1. Larger eggs are better, so if yours are small, you might want to use one more.
2. Not all the flour may be necessary (also due to point 1), so don’t pour it all in at once. If you notice the dough is hardening, leave some aside: the dough should not be hard.
3. The packet of baking powder: the recipe calls for the entire packet, but half is perfectly fine; in fact, perhaps it’s better. 😃
And as a friend says… Go, go, go! Because it’s already Mardi Gras and we’re here splitting hairs about the quantity of baking powder! I mean… 😄
In a bowl, briefly beat eggs and sugar with a fork, add wet ingredients, then flour (a little at a time) and baking powder, and mix everything to obtain a soft mixture. If necessary, add an additional spoonful of milk.
Fry the castagnole by dropping spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot lard.
☝ Tradition has it that castagnole are fried in lard. And since this year, thanks to my brother and sister-in-law, we have a decent supply of homemade lard, we indulged in the satisfaction of frying the old-fashioned way 🙂 And the jars you see in the photo, I purposely left in the frame to show them off with pride.
Of course, those who don’t have or don’t want to use lard can use seed oil (better if peanut oil).
Sprinkle the castagnole with granulated sugar to taste immediately after cooking.
Eat immediately with enthusiasm!
They are fantastic hot or warm, but also delicious cold.
You can drizzle them with Alchermes, or alternatively… dip them in it. We did it, I admit. We put some Alchermes in a glass and then dip and bite, and dip another bite… What a delight!!! And uh-oh, sorry but I didn’t photograph it, we were too busy eating them!! 😃
Enjoy!!