THE MOST MOIST ITALIAN ZEPPOLE RECIPE

I visited the charming town of my ancestry, Castel Morrone, Italy in September 2023. During my visit, I met a distant cousin, Caterina, for the first time and in that meeting, we discovered that both of our great-grandmother's were sisters. Caterina has lived in Castel Morrone her entire life and has the secret recipes to this town's ancestral dishes. My Italian American family makes zeppole every year for Christmas Eve, a recipe that has been passed down for generations from the other side of my family. In an effort to compare recipes, I asked Caterina to share her recipe for zeppole. This recipe was so much more moist than the zeppole my family has been making, we may just adopt it to make for our Christmas Eve dinner this year! Watch Caterina and I make these zeppole and leave a comment if you tried the recipe to let us know how they turned out! Buon Natale!

Zeppole di Alici
Active Time 30 minutes / Inactive Time 2 hours / Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup + 2 tbsp* room temperature tap water, divided (*8 tbsp if using fresh yeast)
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tsp instant dry yeast (½ fresh yeast paste block 12.5g)
a pinch of salt
250g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
3 flat fillet anchovies in oil, chopped
4 cups vegetable oil

Instructions:
1.In a large mixing bowl, add 1 cup water, olive oil, yeast, and salt and beat together with a fork until the yeast is dissolved.
2.Add flour to the bowl and beat in with a fork until combined.
3.Add 1 tbsp of water at a time into the flour and beat with a fork until dissolved. The dough should be a wet, moist paste-like consistency. (If the dough is too dry, add more water, 1 tbsp at a time, until the dough reaches this consistency.)
4.Add the anchovies and fold into the dough with a fork to incorporate.
5.Cover the bowl with a towel and 2 heavy blankets and set aside to rise 2 hours or doubled in size.
6. Prepare a flat plate with a paper towel and set aside.
7.Once the dough has risen, heat the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan on medium-high heat. (You will start to see small bubbles in the oil rise to the top once it is hot enough for frying. Test a small piece of dough in the oil, it should drop to the bottom and quickly float to the top.)
8.Once the oil is hot, dip a tablespoon into the oil to coat and then scoop the dough in spoonfuls to drop the dough into the hot oil.
9.Continue to flip the dough until it is lightly golden on all sides, about 2 minutes each side or 4 minutes total. Zeppole will be plumped and lightly golden brown when done.

Makes 18-22 zeppole

Chef: Caterina Marra
Chef: Christina Minutillo @ChristinaMinutillo

Christina will be sharing more recipes she learned to cook in Italy so subscribe to her channel so that you don't miss them! ​⁠