Last year I posted on “Grispelle” and la Grispellissima festival that is held December 8th in Feroleto Antico, where my family is from in Calabria but I didn’t include a recipe… so here it is.  My family makes a fried potato-dough with and without anchovies every year at Christmas time: We call them grispelle & monacialli but they also have other names depending on where in Calabria you are from.  Grispelle are doughnut shaped without  anchovies and monacialli are small balls with anchovies inside.

Monacialli

Grispelle

What you’ll need:

• 5 pound bag of all-purpose flour
• 4-5 large potatoes (we use Idaho potatoes)
• Fresh yeast (about 2 oz)
• Salt
• Grated Parmigiano or Romano cheese
• Vegetable oil
• Canned anchovies in oil (for monacialli)

What you need to do: Peel your potatoes and boil them until they are soft enough to put through a potato ricer.  Once you have riced your potatoes, place them in a large bowl and add some of the water used to boil the potatoes.  Mix together until you have a thick potato/water mixture with no lumps (run your fingers through the water or strain the water to remove any potato chunks.) Let the potato water cool.   Place the yeast in a bowl of warm water breaking it up with your hands until it is completely dissolved and then add it to your potato water.  Now place your flour, salt and grated cheese in a large bowl and slowly add your potato water as needed to make your dough.  The dough should have a soft and fluffy consistency.

Potato Water

Let the dough rise for 1.5 – 2 hours.  We cover the bowl with a dish cloth and a blanket in order to keep the dough warm and speed up the process.  When the dough is ready it should be soft and airy.

Once your dough is ready, you’ll need to oil down a large area (table, counter top, etc.) with vegetable oil.  This is done so that the uncooked grispelle and monacialli don’t stick to the surface before you cook them as the dough is very sticky.  Also set aside a bowl of oil to dunk your hands in while working the dough.

For monacialli, grab a small piece of dough and stretch it flat in your hands, then add a whole anchovy fillet and wrap the anchovy with the dough (see video below.) Place the monacialli on your oily surface while you make others.  This will allow the dough to rise slightly before frying.

For grispelle, take a small piece of dough and poke a whole through the middle to create a doughnut shape and lay them on your oily surface while you make others.

Heat some vegetable oil in a large sauce or frying pan (use enough oil so that the grispelle and monacialli float while frying.)  Add your monacialli or grispelle and cook on both sides until golden brown.  Let cool and eat!

Grispelle are great on their own but you can also sprinkle sugar on them or dunk them in honey or maple syrup… as you can imagine, the kids love them this way.  I’m a monacialli kind of guy.  Whichever you prefer, enjoy and buon appetito!

PS – BUON ANNO A TUTTI!!

There’s always talk about what Americans miss most about living abroad. There’s the usual items like peanut butter, diet coke (not coca-cola light), Dr. Pepper (don’t know how anyone can drink that stuff) and other American favorites but how about when you move back to the States and can’t find some of those Italian specialties?? I was thinking about some of those favorites today and came up with a short list beyond the espresso and Italian cuisine.

I miss Brasilena coffee flavored soda – YUM! It’s more of a Calabrian favorite as I have never found it outside of Calabria. If you get a chance…. try it! I have had other coffee flavored soda but none can even come close to Brasilena. I’m sure Michelle at Bleeding Espresso and Cherrye at My Bella Vita know exactly what I’m talking about.

I miss Sanbitter… although my sister carries it at her bakery, so I get to have it occasionally.

I miss Ferrarelle sparkling water. It’s very unique, sort of a “soft sparkling”

I miss a bartender that can make a good “Americano” not the coffee but the cocktail. It’s 1 part Campari, 1 part sweet vermouth with a splash of soda and an orange slice. My favorite! add gin and you get a Negroni.

All drinks? No, no.

I miss mozzarella di bufala, I mean good mozzarella di bufala…. to me, if it’s not mozzarella di bufala…. it’s just not mozzarella. If you’ve never tried it…. run as fast as you can and get some…. seriously, what are you waiting for?

We had 2 Italians in our office when I was working in Bologna: 1 was from Caserta and the other from Battipaglia. These cities are both right outside of Napoli and are famous for their Mozzarella di bufala. They often argued about where the best bufala came from. All I cared about was that they brought it back to Bologna when they went home to visit. We have found some bufala at Costco here in the US. It’s pretty good (not Caserta or Battipaglia good… but pretty good.)

What favorites are you missing from Italy?

PS- If you’re in Italy and live near a US military base: Make friends with someone in the military:) They have full blown American Grocery Stores! Here’s a picture of my friend Anthony in the Grocery store on the Navel base in Napoli. We found lots of favorites including Doritoes, Sam Adams, Diet Coke and canned pumpkin for making pumpkin pie! They also had plenty of your favorite peanut butter brands and Dr. Pepper.