If you follow Manu’s Menu, you will know that Mardi Gras, or Carnevale for us Italians, is my favourite time of the year! Carnevale is quite big in Italy and all kids dress up for almost a week and go on parades with all kinds of floats. There are many famous Carnevali in Italy, like the ones of Venice, Ivrea, Cento, Viareggio, Putignano… these attract hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. But every little town in Italy celebrates Carnevale. It’s a little bit like “our Halloween”… when kids tell jokes, make pranks and throw coriandoli (coloured paper confetti) all around. And, of course there’s plenty of delicious food. During this time of the year we eat lots of sweets and fried food, because Carnevale comes right before the period of Lent during which Catholics usually fast (or eat less). I have already shared with you how to make a few Carnevale treats like Chiacchiere, Tortelli di Carnevale, Meat filled Apulian Panzerotti, Ravioli Dolci, Bomboloni and Migliaccio… and today I am back with another quintessential Carnevale recipe: Tagliatelle dolci – aka sweet tagliatelle. They are delicious “pinwheels” of pasta dough, filled with sugar and orange zest, fried and dusted with icing sugar. The funny thing about them is that they are made just like tagliatelle, thus their name. These are served at all Carnevale parties and come from the region of Emilia Romagna! Enjoy and check out my Carnevale Pinterest gallery for more ideas on what to serve for your Mardi Gras!
Tagliatelle Dolci di Carnevale
Tagliatelle Dolci di Carnevale - fried "tagliatelle" filled with sugar & orange zest, fried and dusted with icing sugar, a typical Italian Carnevale sweet.
Ingredients
- 200 gms – 1 ½ cup flour
- 2 eggs
- 4 tbsp granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 orange grated
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
- Icing sugar to serve
Instructions
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Put the flour and eggs in a mixer and blend them until they become like breadcrumbs. Then pour the mixture onto a floured working surface and knead well until you get smooth dough.
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Roll the dough into a 2 mm – about 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick circle.
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Sprinkle with the granulated sugar and grated orange peel.
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Roll the dough on itself like a Swiss roll and, using a sharp knife, cut 1 cm – ½ inch slices, as if you were making real tagliatelle. Keep them aside without opening the “pinwheels”.
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Deep fry them in batches in vegetable oil at 170°C – 340°F. When golden brown, put them on a plate covered with kitchen paper to drain the excess oil. Let them cool down.
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Dust with icing sugar and serve.
These were incredible! I love the light texture and orange flavor.