To make Panzerotti, also called Sgabei, we use pizza dough.

Panzerotti are a typical dish of Toscana and Liguria. To be exact, the recipe originates from the Lunigiana area. This is what the peasant’s wifes used to make with the left over pizza or bread dough. Nowadays Panzerotti are served in Trattorie, not in fancy restaurants. I asked my friend and wonderful chef Elena to share with us her recipe.

To make pizza dough you will need:

3 cups of flour plus extra for working surface (because this recipe was made in Italy we used “00” flour)

1/2 cup oil

3/4 cup water

1 1/2 teasoon sea salt

15 gr beer yeast (the kind you find in the fridge-aka brewer’s yeast)

Vegetable frying oil

Place yeast in a cup of water to melt. In a medium bowl mix flour, oil, water (with yeast) and salt. Mix with your hands. When all ingredients are combined, cover with a wet kitchen cloth and let it rest for one hour at room temperature.

Place a little flour on your work surface, cut dough in 3 parts. Work one piece at the time, make a disk 1/3 inch thick. With a pizza cutter, cut dough in 2 inches long by 3 inches wide.  Repeat with the other two pieces of dough.

Preheat frying oil, when the oil is ready, fry pieces of dough. Before you put in a piece, stretch it with your fingers, this will help it will fluff up.

Panzerotti are delicious eaten by themselves, but they can also be eaten with cheese or salame. You can also have them sweet, with nutella, or honey and cinnamon…

watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8kTULXiyb8

With Pizza dough you usually make:

Pizza comes in different sizes, but in Italy it comes also in different shapes! If you ever go to La Cantina in the mountains behind Forte dei Marmi, localita` Strettoia, you will taste the most delicious and delicate pizza ever! It’s called “pizza al metro” because it is as long as a meter (a little more than 3 feet). It is thin, crunchy on the edges but soft in the middle.

Cook with your heart. Rima