I was thinking about making doughnuts, but was not sure because my husband is not a big fan of sweets. After a while, I decided to make a savory bread, to be served as a starter (aperitivo, as they say here).
I have to insist that is is not a recipe. I experiment without measure, and share my results in order to inspire others to experiment and develop their own recipes. So here's what I did:
I gathered from my kitchen:
All purpose flour (farina 00 grano tenero)
Brewers yeast
Shortening
Sugar
Milk
Salt
Garlic powder
Frozen spinach
1 egg
Defrost the spinach in the microwave if you are in a hurry, then squeeze it between your hands to eliminate the excess water. Put the spinach in the food processor along with the egg and the garlic powder, process to mince the spinach as fine as you like, then set aside. I used about a 1/4 cup of frozen spinach for 1 egg.
Grab a medium size bowl and put the flour in it, roughly until the middle. Make a well in the center, put a spoonful of shortening (vegetable shortening, lard, olive oil, your choice. I used lard this time because I had some in the fridge) then add about half cup of warm milk. I heated the milk separate and kept adding as much as I needed. On top of the puddle of milk, sprinkle the brewers yeast and some sugar, then start mixing from the center towards the outside with a wooden spoon. When about half of the flour is mixed in with the liquid, add salt and the spinach-egg mixture. Keep using the spoon to mix until you can start kneading with your hand like in the picture.
Knead until it no longer sticks to your hands (at least not much) and the dough feels elastic and springy. I did all this inside the bowl. Then put a little oil on the dough ball and toss it around the bowl to grease lightly the bowl and the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest in a warm place for about 2 hours, or until it doubles in size.
After that, flour your work table and take the dough out of the bowl. Gently roll the dough with your hands or a rolling pin to a 2 cm thickness. With a very sharp knife, cut the dough in little squares and put then on a plate or baking sheet covered in waxed paper so they dont stick. Let them rest in a warm place again for about 30 to 40 minutes.
Then take the little squares and fry them up in hot oil like you do with a doughnut. You need to turn them as they puff and turn golden brown. Let them drain on paper towels and that's it! Puffy, delicious, addictive fried dough balls. You can serve this along with cream cheese, or any spread you like, or dip them in marinara sauce.
Tip: they should turn out roughly the size of a doughnut hole to ensure that they are well cooked inside. Next time I will try to make them stuffed with cheese.
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