Last Sunday, Antonio's Mom and his Sister Valeria joined Riccardo, Alex and I to make one of our favorite Carnival treats.
But first we had an explanation of what Carnival is from Valeria who read to us what is the meaning of carnival and how did it get started in Italy.
This video is a conversation in Italian and English and should be a treat for anyone that is learning Italian or English.
Please let me know how much you understood after watching the video. I love to hear from you so please leave a comment below.
Personally these delectable balls reminded me of a recipe in Jamaica we call ‘Johnny cakes’ . Cakes or (biscuits as they say in America) that were wrapped in a cloth and taken when going on a long journey.
To give the castagnole a Jamaican twist we added some dark Jamaican rum. I hope you will try out this recipe because they were a absolutely addictive.
But first what is the history of the Roman Carnival, or Carnevale as we say here in Italy?
Carnevale in Rome
The festival of Saturnalia was a celebration to the Ancient Roman god saturn. All work was suspended and moral restrictions eased. Saturn was the Roman god of agriculture and the festivities honoring him involved parties, banquets, entertainment, dancing and wearing masks. Then there were the sacrificial rituals to the gods.
Today's carnevale celebration in Rome date back to the 10th century where they took place on Mount Testaccio in the Testaccio neighborhood of Rome. Even the Pope was present in 1143. The festivities were held with the intention of recalling this ancient Roman festival.
Carnevale comes from the Latin words carne meaning meat and vale meaning farewell. It is usually the period leading up to lent which is the Christian period of 40 days before Easter. During this time it is preparation by indulging as much as possible because lent is a time for fasting, abstaining from meat and reflection.
In Rome you might see costumed and masked people around Piazza Navona and via del Corso. Of course at any café or bar you will see many varieties of castagnole. Now they can be filled with pistachio cream, chocolate or ricotta flavored with lemon or vanilla. Be sure to try them.
Chef Antonio's recipe for Castagnole
Castagnole are a typical dessert of the Italian Carnival. We are talking about very soft and delicious pancakes, made with a very simple dough, based on flour, eggs and sugar, from which balls the size of a chestnut are formed.
Note: In this recipe we used Jamaican rum and a vanilla flavored rum from the Phillipines
400 g of flour
80 g of sugar
3 eggs
60 g of butter
1 bag of vanilla
16 grams of yeast
1 tablespoon of rum
1 grated lemon zest (1 lemon)
powdered sugar as needed
1 pinch of salt
fry oil eg. Peanut oil
Method
Start preparing the castagnole by softening the butter in a bowl, add the sugar and then the eggs, one at a time. Wait for the egg to mix well before moving on to the next one.
Mix and add the grated lemon peel, rum, a pinch of salt and as much flour as needed to obtain a soft and homogeneous dough. Finally add the yeast.
Remove small pieces from the dough with your hands and form them into balls. Fry in abundant boiling oil until they take on a nice golden color.
Put the fried balls on paper towels to take of the extra oil
Roll in white sugar
Sprinkle with powdered sugar
Recipe (Italian)
Le Castagnole, sono un dolce tipico del Carnevale Italiano. Parliamo di morbidissime e golose frittelle, realizzate con un impasto molto semplice, a base di farina, uova e zucchero, da cui si formano delle palline della grandezza di una castagna.
400 gr di farina
80 gr di zucchero
3 uova
60 gr di burro
1 busta di lievito vanigliato 16 gr
1 cucchiaio di rum
1 scorza di limone grattugiata (1 limone)
zucchero a velo quanto basta
1 pizzico di sale
olio per friggere
Iniziate a preparare le castagnole facendo ammorbidire il burro in una terrina, incorporate lo zucchero e poi le uova, una alla volta. Aspettate che si amalgami bene l’uovo prima di passare al successivo.
Mescolate e unite anche la buccia grattugiata del limone, il rum, un pizzico di sale e tanta farina quanto basta ad ottenere un impasto morbido e omogeneo. Alla fine aggiungete il lievito.
Staccate con le mani dall’impasto dei piccoli pezzetti e formateci delle palline. Friggete in abbondante olio bollente fino a che non assumono un bel colore dorato.
Spolveriamo con lo zucchero .
We always have so much fun cooking with Antonio. Be sure to book a private class with him when you visit Monti della Tolfa. His cooking is not to be missed
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Making Castagnole with Chef Antonio