As you may have seen from one of my earlier blogs, Venice is one of my favourite places. I would love to visit during Carnival time in late February to see the stunning masks and costumes, and to simply soak up the festive atmosphere. One of the things that I fondly remember growing up in Italy are the typical ‘biscuits’ that appear around Carnival time. These scrumptious biscuits have different names dependent on which region of Italy you are in: from bugie to chiacchiere it doesn’t quite matter what they are called, they are worthy of a try. As you can’t find them in the supermarkets here in the UK, I decided to make them and to celebrate my own piece of Carnevale here. Here is the recipe so that you can celebrate with me.
Bugie di Carnevale
Ingredients:
500g ‘00 type flour
50g butter
70g sugar
1 pinch of salt
2 whole eggs
¼ glass of white wine
½ packet of yeast
lemon zest
oil to fry
zucchero a velo (similar to icing sugar)
On a clear surface, sieve all of the flour and create a well in the centre. Add the lemon zest.
Add the butter, eggs, sugar, yeast, salt and a small amount of the wine to the well.
Start working the ingredients together with your hands working the flour in from the centre. Be gentle otherwise you will end up with a runny mess all over your work surface! Keep working and kneading the mixture until you have a homogeneous and compact mixture. In the event that the mix becomes too hard, simply add in some more of the wine.
Once the mix is ready, wrap in cling-film and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 to 40 minutes.
Take the dough out of the fridge and divide into quarters, keeping the rest wrapped in the cling-film while you work on each quarter.
Gently press the dough with the palm of your hand to flatten it slightly. Pass the dough through a pasta machine, working your way down until it is about 2-3mm in thickness. If you don’t have a pasta machine, then you can use a rolling pin to work the dough.
Cut the dough using a frilled roller to create the frilled edge.
Heat the oil in the pan and gently add in the individual cut pieces, cooking until they turn golden. Don’t forget to turn them around frequently to ensure that they cook evenly all the way through.
Allow the bugie to dry and rest on some kitchen roll to remove the excess oil.
To get the slightly crispy texture that is characteristic of these biscuits, you way need to heat them under the grill for a short while.
Lightly sprinkle the zucchero a velo on the biscuits with a small sieve and enjoy!
How did your bugie turn out? Enjoy and Felice Carnevale!!