Recipe of the week(end)
Click here for printable .pdf of recipe
Frittele di Mele
(Apple Lemon Fritters)
(Apple Lemon Fritters)
This week we have easy…an easy dessert for the end of Winter and (fingers crossed) beginning of Spring…and an easy way to use up any cellared apples that you may still have around (that haven’t been fed to the deer).
Frittele di Mele (Apple Lemon Fritter) is
a traditional Italian dessert that's a great way to use up winter apples & it can easily be adapted to your own taste using cinnamon, cloves, powdered sugar…you get the idea. Some sharp NY State cheddar on the side? Anything that smells or tastes good with apples will work well in this recipe.
A good Italian dessert should dance on the palate after a full Italian meal, with bold, simple flavors and not too much of the cloying sweetness. Hence the fritter.
It’s a grey rainy weekend here in the Finger Lakes so we don’t mind camping out in the kitchen a bit and firing up the stove to fry up some light crunchy fritters for dessert.
We’ve also been known to make these as a Sunday breakfast treat…or Saturday night treat for family & friends…everyone seems to like them.
Apples may well be our adopted national fruit, but they are far from a solely American crop. In Italy, the northern regions are apple country, where warm, sunny days and cool nights make for particularly favorable growing conditions. The names of the varieties roll off the tongue like an Italian poem: Rosa Gentile, Mantovano, Napoleone, Rosso Nobile, Bianco d'Inverno, to name just a few.
While not quite completely "idiot proof" even your first mistakes with this recipe are going to be tasty.
Of course, as a Sunday morning treat we suggest a pairing with nice Meritage Blend of beans from Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters.
As a dessert however may we suggest a
nice sparkling Il Prosecco?
Enjoy.
Frittele di Mele
(Apple Lemon Fritters)
Makes about 3 dozen
Ingredients:
About 3 lbs. of apples
4 large eggs
2 c. + 2 ½ Tbl. flour
4 Tbl. sugar
2 tsp. rum
4 Tbl. milk
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
grated zest from two lemons
powdered sugar
oil for frying (while not exactly Italian, peanut oil both adds a nice taste to this recipe when used)
Preparation:
-Peel and shred the apples, setting them aside – think of this as making "apple hash" and you won't be too far off. Set them aside.
-Beat the eggs in a separate mixing bowl, adding in the sugar and flour. Mix until they're well combined.
-Add in the milk, rum, cinnamon and grated lemon zest.
Once they're all blended, add in the shredded apples, and mix thoroughly.
-Heat the oil in a small nonstick pan or seasoned cast iron skillet. Don't scorch the oil. If it smokes, turn it down.
-Once the oil is hot enough, scoop up the apple-dough and drop it into a ball, rolling it into the hot oil.
-Turn each ball carefully so they're cooked all around (they'll expand a bit).
-Pull them out and place them on a dish with a paper towel to soak off the excess oil.
-Sprinkle them with powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar to your taste.
Serve warm.
Val
di Non apples first gained official recognition for their quality in
1873, when they won an international contest held in Vienna. Today
there are 16 consortiums, comprised of around 5200 producers. The
smaller consortiums are grouped together to form the larger entity, the
Consorzio Tutela Mela Val di Non, located in the Val di Non town of
Cles. The apples are marketed under the single name of “Melinda.” – not
quite as lyrical, but cute nonetheless (like that little blonde girl in
your third-grade class).
Apples are deeply interwoven into the history of the valley; the towns of Malè and Malosco are said to derive from the Latin maletum, meaning, “the place of the apples.” For nearly 200 years, the apple crop has been a vital part of the region’s economy; the accolades and international prizes have been a source of regional pride for the farmers of Val di Non, who tend to their orchards with the care of a nervous father. The apples thrive in the mineral-rich soil of the dolomite rock formations that dominate the terrain and the temperate Alpine air. The Melinda Apples of Val di Non were the first Italian apple variety to receive the coveted D.O.P. classification, designating that they are native to the specific geographical place, and bearing a high standard of excellence.
History & recipe
adapted from
Babbo NYC
and Best Italian.
Apples are deeply interwoven into the history of the valley; the towns of Malè and Malosco are said to derive from the Latin maletum, meaning, “the place of the apples.” For nearly 200 years, the apple crop has been a vital part of the region’s economy; the accolades and international prizes have been a source of regional pride for the farmers of Val di Non, who tend to their orchards with the care of a nervous father. The apples thrive in the mineral-rich soil of the dolomite rock formations that dominate the terrain and the temperate Alpine air. The Melinda Apples of Val di Non were the first Italian apple variety to receive the coveted D.O.P. classification, designating that they are native to the specific geographical place, and bearing a high standard of excellence.
History & recipe
adapted from
Babbo NYC
and Best Italian.
