Pettuli

From the region of Taranto, Greece these golden fried pieces of dough are traditionally eaten during the fasting-Christmas period.

The folklore is they were given by the infant Christ to the poor – this tale acts as a “prequel” to Christ’s adult miracle of the five loaves. It represents Christ never leaving anyone go hungry, His infinite compassion and encouraging the faithful to be just as charitable.

Ingredients

7 cups all purpose flour

warm water

1 tsp salt

25g live yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

olive oil for frying

1.      Combine flour, salt, sugar, yeast (dissolved in a glass of warm water) and enough warm water to make a little bit moist, sticky and smooth dough. Leave the dough in a warm place to rise.

2.      Heat olive oil, take a bit of dough with a spoon and fry. (Or sink you hand in the dough and squeeze it. Dip your fingers in cold water to keep the dough from sticking to them). The pettuli will puff up immediately.

3.      After 30 seconds turn them on the other side and let them fry to golden brown.  Remove and drain them on absorbent paper.

Serve them sprinkled with sugar or honey. You can eat them with a meal instead of bread. There are also savoury versions with tomatoes, vegetables, fish, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes or with pumpkin, all suitable during this fasting period.

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