Today’s sweet recipe: fried no-egg chiacchiere.
Chiacchiere is one of the typical Italian Carnival desserts, taking different names in various regions such as chiacchiere, frappe, cenci, or bugie, but they remain one of the tastiest desserts of this period.
This recipe is different from the classic one because it is egg-free, but I assure you that you will still get chiacchiere full of bubbles and a super crunchy sound, crumbly and delicious, and they do not retain frying oil and stay nice and dry. A real delight like the classic ones with eggs.
Fried chiacchiere are made with a dough of flour, water, sugar, oil, and an alcoholic part that can be grappa or brandy. After kneading, we need to let the mixture rest, which can then be rolled out very thin and fried.
Let’s see together, step by step, how to make this recipe.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: About 60 chiacchiere
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Carnival
Ingredients for No-Egg Chiacchiere
- 3 1/4 cups All-purpose flour
- 2 tbsps sugar
- 7 tbsps olive oil
- 3 fl oz brandy
- 3/4 cup water
- as needed vegetable oil (For frying)
- as needed powdered sugar
Tools
- 1 Scale
- 1 Fluted pastry wheel
- 1 Slotted spoon
- 1 Pastry board
- 1 Frying pan
Let’s Start!
On the pastry board, put the flour and form a well in the center into which we place the other ingredients: the sugar, olive oil, brandy, and water. With the help of a fork, knead quickly until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough. It will be soft.
Wrap the obtained dough in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for a couple of hours.
After the resting time, take a part of the dough, lightly flour the work surface, and roll it out with a rolling pin. The thickness is very important, 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) is ideal for having great chiacchiere.
Once we have rolled out the dough, we can cut it into diamonds or rectangles and then make a cut in the center with a fluted wheel or a knife. Continue until the dough is finished.
In a pan, a small pot, or a deep fryer, put the vegetable oil and heat it up. When the oil is ready, add a few chiacchiere at a time, let them brown, turn them to brown the other side, and drain on a sheet of absorbent paper. The cooking time is very quick as they are thin.
As soon as they have cooled down, sprinkle them with powdered sugar and then enjoy them. Before eating them all, take a photo of your fried no-egg chiacchiere and post it on social media tagging me (una riccia che pasticcia, Instagram and Facebook) and show me what shapes you made.
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No-egg fried chiacchiere keep well for a couple of days.
