The Apulian tradition has it that during the Christmas period the famous pettole are prepared, delicious balls of leavened dough, fried in abundant hot oil.
In the city of Taranto, these balls are called Pettele or cushions of the infant Jesus and are prepared on November 22, the day of Santa Cecilia.
This Taranto tradition comes from a legend that tells that, in November 1210, a lady from Taranto, living in the Old Town, to follow the sermons of St. Francis of Assisi, left the balcony forgetting the bread dough she had prepared, like every day. , early in the morning. So when he came back inside, the dough had risen too much and the bread could no longer bake. He then decided to fill a pot with oil, put the pieces of pasta in it, little by little, and saw that pancakes were formed. On some she put sugar to make them sweeter for her children, on others she added anchovies to feed her tired husband.
Pettole is a simple but very tasty dish, rich in flavor and traditions. They should be strictly eaten freshly made, when they are still hot and dripping with boiling oil. Only in this way is it possible to appreciate the contrast between the soft internal dough and the golden and crunchy external crust.
Below we propose this recipe, both in a sweet version, with sugar or honey, and in a savory version, enriched with olives, capers, courgettes or bacon.
Great in any version, they will disappear in no time! We have warned you!
INGREDIENTS FOR ABOUT 45-50 PETTOLE
00 flour 500 g
Fresh brewer's yeast 12 g
Coarse salt half a tablespoon
Warm water 375 ml
FOR THE SALTY VERSION
Black olives 5 g
FOR THE SWEET VERSION
Sugar to taste
FOR FRYING
Seed oil to taste
To prepare pettole, sift the flour into a bowl, make a central fountain and scioglieteci the yeast with warm water. Dissolve the coarse salt in the remaining water and pour it slowly over the flour. Knead with your hands to obtain a very soft and sticky dough, if necessary add more water. Divide it into two parts then immediately put one of them in a bowl, covered with a sheet of cling film, to rise in the oven off with the light on for about 2 hours.
Cut the black olives into rings and add them to the remaining dough. Mix the ingredients well then put this to rise in the oven off covered with film. When the two bodies will have doubled in volume, predispose to the fire a large pot with plenty of oil for frying pettole.
As soon as the oil has reached 180 ° (you can use a thermometer to measure the right temperature), take a little dough at a time with a spoon, wet a finger in a little water and slide the ball of dough with it from the spoon directly into the oil, in order to create the characteristic stems
Continue like this until you have finished the dough with the olives first and then the simple one (or the other way around): the pettole must be golden on both sides, then turn them with tongs while cooking. Remove them from the oil and let them drain on paper: those olives will already be ready to eat as well as simple ones. For the sweet version, the simple pettole will be rolled in granulated sugar or sprinkled with honey as soon as they are removed from the boiling oil!
Good pettole to all!
