A delicious fried bread dumpling from Emilia-Romagna. We discovered it during our visit of the region and fell in love with its delicious richness and texture. Very easy to make and pairs nicely with cheese, salad or salumi.

Ingredients

• 500 g of all-purpose flour.
• 35 g of butter (Lard is used traditionally).
• 125 ml of water.
• 100 ml of cold whole milk (cream works too).
• 1 Tbsp of baking powder.
• 1 Tbsp of dry yeast.
• 15 g of fine sea salt.
• 5 g of sugar.
• Neutral oil (for deep frying).

Preparation

1. Mix the water, milk in a small bowl.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, yeast, baking powder and salt in a larger bowl.
3. Add the butter to the dry ingredients, mix, making sure it's fully incorporated.
4. Combine the dry and wet ingredients and knead for at least 10 min, or until the dough is smooth. The dough should be soft, smooth and bouncy when poked.
5. You can let the dough rest for 1 hr or overnight in the fridge. We found that the overnight option gets a lighter, more puffed gnocco fritto.
6. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll them with a rolling pin into a 1/16 inch thick oblong disk.

Tip: We use a pasta machine for rolling the dough. It's much easier and faster.

7. Cut the sheet dough into rectangles of about 3 in x 4 in. Any size would work, just be mindful that everything needs to be of the same size for even cooking.
8. Pour some oil in a frying pot (enough to cover at least 3 inches). Heat it on medium until it reaches 350 F. Stick a small piece of dough into the oil, if it starts bubbling, this means that we're ready to fry.
9. Put 2 to 3 pieces at a time, make sure to move them around and flip them constantly, until they puff up and become golden brown. Fish them from the oil with a metal spider and put them on a plate covered with paper towels (to absorb the excess oil).
10. Eat them while hot!

Tip: use a small pot and do small batches at a time. we hate frying because it wastes so much oil. A smaller pot reduces the waste.