Tags
brea, Cucina povera, Cucina Pugliese, Italian food, pan, Pizze fritte, Pugliese Traditions, Southern Italy
Panzerotti are a popular Pugliese street food. In the spirit of ‘cucina povera’ where nothing is wasted, they came about from using leftover bread or pizza dough to make small, fried stuffed pizze. They are crispy outside, fluffy inside and mezzaluna (half moon) shaped. Panzerotti can have a simple tomato and mozzarella filling, or prosciutto, prosciutto cotto (ham), or fresh sausage cut out of its casing and fried can be added. Other common fillings include onion, olive, capers anchovies and tomato, and spicy pork, similar to a porchetta.
Panzerotto (singular) is the diminutive form of panza, dialetto for pancia, which means belly, because the dough swells up like a bloated belly when fried in oil!
Panzerotti Recipe:
Dough:
500 g total of flour: -250g 00 flour (1¾ cups)
-250g semola rimacinata*(2 cups)
10g (2 teaspoons) instant dried yeast
250 ml warm water
Pinch of sugar
60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil, plus more to grease the bowl
125 ml (½ cup) milk
5g (1 tsp) salt
Filling:
250 g passata di pomodoro or a tin of Mutti Polpa, which may need to be strained
Mozzarella -if using fresh mozzarella, drain first to decrease moisture
Prosciutto
Oregano or basil
My favourite ingredient-un po’ di pepe-a bit of pepper!
Sunflower oil for frying
Instructions: Disolve the yeast in 1 cup water and a pinch of sugar or honey and let sit for 10 minutes. Add all the flour(s) to a large mixing bowl or on a spianatoia (pasta board). Make a hole in the center and add the milk, oil and water /yeast. Mix together with a fork, slowly incorporating more flour. Add salt last, then knead on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add more flour if it is too wet, and more milk if it is too dry.
Lightly oil the bowl and place the dough back in. Cover with a damp tea towel/cloth so it does not dry out, and let rise 2 hours or until doubled in size.
Roll out 14-15 balls (~ 50g each) and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with a damp tea towel/cloth and let rise for 1 hour. The panzerotti will cook more evenly if they are all about the same size.
Add oregano or basil, and pepper to the tomato passata or polpa. I do not add salt if using an already salty filling like prosciutto. Drain mozzarella to avoid extra moisture if using fresh. 
One at a time, roll a ball of dough into a thin circle. Add ½ to 1 tablespoon tomato mixture in the center and smooth it around with a spoon. Do NOT go too close to the edges, and add more in the bottom half of circle. Add other ingredients to the bottom half of the circle. 
Fold in half, pressing edges firmly together, then double seal by folding the edge over again and pinch with fingers to make a fancy design. You do not want the panzerotti to open during frying. This will make a mess of the oil. Too much filling and /or too much moisture will also cause them to open. 
Keep aside a small piece of dough to test the oil to see if it is hot enough. Fry in sunflower oil in batches of 2-3 panzerotti for 2-3 minutes per side or until golden and puffy. You can spoon a bit of oil over the top to prevent bubbles-although I like the bubbles! Drain on paper towels so they stay crispy and do not get soggy. Fry right away, as if they sit, the dough continues to rise, making them more likely to open. It is best to make panzerottiwith 2 people-1 to assemble and 1 to fry. If you do not have 4 hands, put the filled panzerotti in the fridge as you make them, until ready to fry them all. They are best served soon after frying. Makes about 14-15 panzerotti. I usually double this recipe and freeze them.
Raw, stuffed panzerotti can also be frozen. Fry them still frozen, as defrosting may turn them into soup. Place a splash screen on top of the pan in case the oil spatters!
Panzerotti can also be baked at 200°C (295°F) for 20 minutes, although technically this makes them calzone. Brush the top with egg yolk or oil before baking or they may be dry.
*Semola or semolina is the yellow durum wheat endosperm. Semola rimacinata has been ground once more. It gives the dough more of a bite to it. You can just use 500 g All Purpose flour, but I find the best results using a combination of 00 and semola rimacinata. It is also common to just use simple pizza or bread dough to make panzerotti, but those are more like stuffed pizze fritte.
**as with all recipes involving flour, it is always best to weigh with a scale rather than measure with cups.
Buon appetito! Cristina
Grano arso literally means burnt wheat. Flour made with it is ‘farina di grano arso’ and has a history going back many centuries as part of the gastronomic tradition of ‘cucina povera’ in Northern Puglia. Farina di grano arso was traditionally made from the bits of wheat left in the field after the harvest. The stubble, called stoppie (STOHP•pyeh) or la ristoccia (rees•TOCH•chya) that was left in the fields was burned, then plowed back into the soil. This was done as a quick and cheap way of clearing the fields. It was also thought to aerate and fertilize the soil and kill weeds and pests.
Un po' di pepe 