Gnocco Fritto and Tigelle Class @ Il Piccolo Mugnaio

The Cooks and The Maestra (black and orange apron)

P and M organised an Italian cooking lesson for those of us who wished to speak Italian socially. It was held this morning at Il Piccolo Mugnaio in Torre Maina.

It was a lovely day, cool and sunny and we had the dining hall and kitchen all to ourselves. We were 9, started the morning with an expresso, put on our aprons and hair nets and started out to learn how to prepare the region's famous Tigelle and Gnocco Fritto.

Old fashioned Tigelle Moulds

The real name of both specialities is Crescentina. The tigelle being the mould used to cook the dough on. They used to pile the stone moulds one on top of the other (with circles of the dough sandwiched in between) and heat them in the chimney. The gnocco fritto is therefore actually crescentina fritta. Tout simplement.

The recipe is actually very simple as is the cooking method. Only you may need a Tigelle machine. And preferably a pasta maker.

The dough

Crescentina (for 8 persons) :

1 Kg Flour Tipo "0"

1 level Tbsp Salt

1 cube Brewer's Yeast (or 2 packets of dried beer yeast)

500ml full cream Milk

Tipo "0" flour is often used in making bread as it is less fine than Tipo "00" flour best used in making cakes. For Tigelle, one could use just refined white Tipo "0" flour or mix it with wholemeal flour for a darker colour and richer taste. For making Gnocco Fritto, only white refined flour is recommended. As wholemeal flour absorbs more water (and therefore releases more when fried), it is not suitable for frying.

It is advisable not to add too much salt in the dough as the crescentinas are often eaten with cured meats that are often quite salty.

(***To make pizza dough, replace the milk with water, add in half a cup of oil and also more salt. This would give a more elastic dough that contributes towards the making of a good pizza.)

For the crescentina, start out by breaking up the yeast and dissolving it in the milk. It is common knowledge that there is little action when the liquid is below 10°C and that yeast will die at 50°C. So watch out for the temperature of the milk.

Pour the mixture onto the flour and salt and mix well. Knead the dough for about 15 minutes (same amount of time on medium speed if using the Kitchenaid). Cover with a moist towel and leave to rest for an hour. It should rise.

Rolling out the dough

If you have a pasta maker, roll out a smooth and reasonably flat piece of dough to obtain rounds with a round cutter. If not, could either pinch out small rounds and roll out rounds with a rolling pin, or roll out the dough and cut out rounds.

Jan hard at work

Tigelle rounds

Leave to rest for another 30 minutes and then cook in a Tigelle machine (basically hot stones cooking the dough on both sides at the same time).

Crescentina Fritta :

1 Kg white "0" Flour

500ml Milk or Water

1 Tbsp Salt

Strutto (filtered/refined pig fat) for frying

Prepare dough as for the Tigelle, only it requires only 15 minutes of rest time (e.g. wrapped in plastic) as it doesn't contain any raising agent. Roll out very thinly and cut into squares or diamonds.

Crescentina fritta/Gnocco fritto

The tricky part in making Gnocco Fritto is getting the right temperature for the oil. Strutto is used as it can be heated to the right temperature (not too hot or cold) and gives a good taste to the dough. The oil is just right for frying when the dough floats almost immediately when it touches the oil. If it sinks, the oil is not hot enough.

The class was followed by lunch : Tigelle and Gnocco Fritto with Cured Ham and Jam, Parmesan Cheese with Balsamic Vinegar (own production), Lambrusco wine, Panna Cotta with Strawberry Sauce. We had a lovely time eating together though of course only a few very hardworking ladies tried to sustain conversation in Italian, the rest practised English - as usual.

Buon appetito!

We should be learning how to make pasta in our next class. Those who couldn't/wouldn't join us today may wish to do so the next time.