Italian Panzerotti Recipes

Steps:

• Pour enough canola or vegetable oil into a large Dutch oven to come 4 to 5 inches up the sides. Clip a deep-fry thermometer to the edge of the pan. Place over medium-high heat and bring to 365 degrees F.
• Meanwhile, place the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once warm, add the tomato puree and cook until bubbling and most water has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Dice the mozzarella and place in a strainer to remove any excess liquid. Set aside.
• Dust a work surface with flour. Roll the pizza dough out until it is 1/4 inch thick. Using a 4- to 5-inch biscuit cutter, cut out rounds. Spread 1 to 2 teaspoons cooled tomato puree on one half of a round. Top with a basil leaf and 1 tablespoon mozzarella. Fold the other half of the round over to enclose the filling and pinch the edges to seal. Continue until all dough is filled and sealed. (At this point you can freeze the panzerotti for up to a month.)
• Drop 2 to 3 panzerotti into the preheated oil and fry until golden, flipping them frequently, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain them on a plate lined with paper towels. Continue until all the panzerotti are cooked. Sprinkle with salt. Eat them hot!

Steps:

• To make pancakes: Place the milk and the eggs in a blender and mix briefly. Add the flour, nutmeg and melted butter and mix BRIEFLY once more. Do not over mix or else the mixture will have too many bubbles. Should this happen let it rest for half an hour before using. Season with salt and pepper.
• Using a frying pan, or crepe pan of about 20-22 cm in diameter brush with butter and start making the pancakes. I use about a quarter cup mixture for each pancake. Grease the pan between each pancake.
• For the filling: Mix the ricotta, parmesan, egg, chopped spinach, salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.
• Tomato 'Spring' Sauce: Peel and remove the seeds from the tomato, place in a blender with 5 basil leaves,1 tbsp olive oil salt and pepper.
• Fill the pancakes with the ricotta mixture and roll up like canelloni.Cut each rolled up pancake into 4 slices, each slice will be left with a loose pancake end. Stuff this end into the bottom to stop the ricotta from leaking out, they should look like little cups. Place in a buttered lasagna dish, open side up.
• Pour sauce, besciamelle on and around the panzerotti, dust with more parmesan cheese and bake at 200°C for 20 minutes.