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Pale gold fried cartellate rosettes coated in dark vincotto, stacked on a ceramic plate on a wooden table

Cartellate Pugliesi: Fried Pastry Rosettes with Vincotto

Thin white wine dough is shaped into pocketed rosettes, fried at 170 C / 340 F until pale gold, and dipped in warm vincotto and honey.
Prep Time 50 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Sweet Pastry
Cuisine: Italian (Pugliese)
Calories: 227

Ingredients
  

Dough
  • 500 g 00 or all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 125 ml extra-virgin olive oil room temperature
  • 125 ml dry white wine room temperature
For frying
  • 1.5 l sunflower or peanut oil / about 6 cups; enough for about 3 cm depth
Vincotto glaze
  • 250 ml vincotto
  • 60 g honey / 3 tbsp
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon optional, for dusting

Method
 

Make and rest the dough
  1. Stir the flour and salt together in a 30 cm / 12-inch bowl. Add the olive oil and wine and mix with your hands until crumbly clumps form, then knead on the counter for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and firm, not sticky.
  2. Wrap the dough in plastic and rest it at room temperature for 30 minutes. This relaxes the gluten so the dough rolls thin without springing back.
Roll and shape the rosettes
  1. Cut the dough into 4 pieces and keep 3 covered. Flatten one piece, pass it through the pasta machine at the widest setting a few times, then thin it to about 1 mm, where you can see your hand's shadow through it. A long rolling pin works too. Cut the sheet into strips about 4 cm wide and 40 cm long with the fluted wheel. Repeat with the remaining pieces.
  2. Fold each strip in half lengthwise. Press the two layers together at 3 cm intervals to form small pockets. Coil the strip into a rosette about 6 cm wide and press the tail against the base so it holds. Set the rosettes on a floured tray and cover with a towel.
Fry and glaze
  1. Pour the frying oil into the 24 cm / 9.5-inch pot and heat it to 170 C / 340 F. Fry 4 to 5 rosettes at a time for 2 to 3 minutes, turning once, until pale gold with small bubbles on the surface. Lift them with a slotted spoon onto the wire rack. Let the oil return to 170 C / 340 F between batches, about 6 or 7 batches in all.
  2. Warm the vincotto and honey in the 20 cm / 8-inch saucepan over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until the honey dissolves and the syrup is loose enough to coat the back of a spoon.
  3. Dip each rosette in the warm glaze for a few seconds, turning it so the pockets fill. Lift it out with tongs and set it back on the rack. Dust with the cinnamon if using, and let the glaze set as the rosettes cool.

Notes

  • Rest the dough 30 minutes so it rolls thin without springing back.
  • Fry at 170 C / 340 F, 4 to 5 rosettes per batch, and let the oil recover between batches.
  • If your vincotto is very thick, thin it with 1 tbsp water so it coats instead of clumping.
  • Cool the glazed rosettes completely before packing them in a tin.