Sfince di Zucca con Vincotto

These pumpkin ‘sfince’ are something I enjoyed as a child. Every time we would have our big Italian family get togethers, each Aunty (there were 8 of them) would bring a dessert, and the funny thing was, they would always bring the same one every time so each of my Aunts were known for their dessert. My mother for example always made a pavlova, or a strawberry flan, another would always make a chocolate ripple cake (vintage recipe popular in the 70’s & 80’s and one I absolutely must share on this blog!) These ‘sfinci’ (pronounced sfinchi) were made by Aunty Lucy, and I remember them fondly sitting on a tray with ‘vincotto’ (cooked wine) drizzled over the top. Think of them as pumpkin doughnuts. You can cover them in sugar & cinnamon or another way to eat them, and the way Aunty Lucy would serve them was by pouring vincotto over them. I decided to roll them in the cinnamon sugar… and then drizzle the vincotto on top as well.

Although we called these sfinci, in Sicily sfinci are usually made with ricotta… and maybe the name ‘sfinci’ is used more predominantly in Calabria, off this I am not sure but you know each region of Italy seems to have its own name for the same recipe! You may also find this recipe as ‘fritelle di zucca’. I know that as soon as I publish this recipe, I will be inundated with messages from various regions of Italy telling me what they are called there. It doesn’t matter what you call them though, there is no disputing they are delicious, light, fluffy…. and very easy to make! You can cook your own pumpkin or do as I did and buy a can of 100% cooked pumpkin. (Often used in America for baking – “Libby’s” pumpkin is a popular brand).

These are associated with festive occasions such as Christmas, Easter or New Year’s Eve, but as carnival is next month here in Italy it wouldn’t be out of place to see them make an appearance – especially as carnival treats are mostly things that are fried and covered in sugar!

Sfince di Zucca

Ingredients

• 1 can – 450g cooked pumpkin (about 1kg uncooked)
• 250ml milk, lukewarm (tepid)
• 25g fresh brewer’s yeast (found in the refrigerated section of supermarket)
• 450g plain all purpose flour
• pinch salt
• 50g sultanas or currants
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 450g (2 cups) sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• peanut or vegetable oil for frying
• vincotto *recipe below*

Method

1. If using fresh pumpkin, peel the pumpkin, remove the seeds and cut into cubes. Cover with water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook until the pumpkin is soft, drain and blend using a food processor. Allow to cool.
2. Dissolve the yeast into milk. Ensure milk is tepid, and not hot.
3. Soak currants in a small glass of port, and then strain before adding to mixture.
4. Sift flour into a large glass bowl, add salt and make a well in the centre.
5. Slowly pour the milk with dissolved yeast into the flour, stirring by hand with a fork to incorporate the flour into the milk.
6. Add the pumpkin, currants and rosemary and continue mixing until dough is uniform in consistency & colour.
7. Cover bowl with a clean, dry tea-towel and place in a warm corner of the kitchen. Allow to rise for 2 hours. (It should double in size.)
8. Heat the oil to 180°C in a deep, heavy based saucepan or use a deep fryer. Use two dessert spoons, one to grab a small amount of dough. Use the other spoon to push the dough off the spoon and allow it to slide into the oil. Repeat and cook about 5 at a time. Turn them as they fry, and remove once they are a deep golden colour. Place on absorbent kitchen towel. (I always cook one first, then break it open to check it is cooked inside, adjusting oil temperature if necessary).
9. Add the cinnamon to the sugar in a bowl, and roll the warm ‘sfinci’ around covering them with sugar.
10. Serve warm if possible, although they really are still delicious cold. If serving with vincotto, drizzle it over them just before serving.

Easy recipe for Vincotto

‘Vincotto’ (cooked wine) is traditionally made in Puglia & Calabria. The delicious flavour of Vino Cotto is the result of slowly cooking grape ‘must’ (juice of pressed grape) of late harvest dark grapes, before fermentation begins. The must is cooked over a low flame for over 15 hours, during which time it reduces to a third of it’s original volume resulting in a syrup. The following recipe is an easier & quicker version you can make at home… remove the spices you may not like.. tweak it until you are happy with the flavour. You can also buy vincotto in most specialty food stores.

• 750ml fruity red wine
• 150g sugar
• 2cm fresh ginger – cut in 3 pieces
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon cardamom pods
• 2 cloves

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for about 30 minutes until the wine has thickened. The wine should have a syrupy consistency, and will reduce to about a quarter of its original volume, about 3/4 cup. Strain through a sieve and let cool to room temperature.

Sfince di Zucca

Le sfince di zucca sono qualcosa che ho conosciuto da piccola perché erano presente ogni volta che la nostra grande famiglia Calabrese riuniva per natale o pasqua. Ogni zia portava un dolce, e la cosa divertente e che avrebbero sempre fatto lo stesso in modo che ognuna delle mie zie fosse conosciuta per il suo dessert. Mia madre, ad esempio, preparava sempre una pavlova, o un flan di fragole, un altro creava sempre una torta al cioccolato. Questi ‘sfinci’ furono fatti dalla Zia Lucy, e li ricordo su un vassoio serviti con vincotto. Ho deciso di arrotolarli nella zucchero con cannella e poi aggiungere anche il vincotto prima di servirli. Anche se la mia famiglia abbiamo chiamato questi sfinci, in Sicilia gli sfinci sono solitamente fatti con la ricotta … e forse il nome “sfinci” è usato principalmente in Calabria. Puoi anche trovare questa ricetta come “fritelle di zucca”. So che non appena pubblicherò questa ricetta, sarò inondato di messaggi provenienti da varie regioni d’Italia che mi dicono come si chiamano lì. Non importa come li chiami, non c’è dubbio che siano deliziosi, leggeri, soffici, golosi … e molto facile da realizzare! Puoi cucinare la zucca o fare come ho fatto io e comprare una lattina di zucca al 100%. (Spesso usato in America per fare i dolci).

Ingredienti

• 450g di zucca cotta (circa 1 kg cruda)
• 250ml di latte
• 25g di lievito di birra fresco (1 cubetto)
• 450g farina ’00’
• pizzico di sale
• 50g uva passa ammorbidita in porto or brandy e strizzata
• 1 cucchiaio di rosmarino fresco tritato finemente
• zucchero + cannella q.b.
• olio per friggere
• vino cotto *ricetta facile segue sotto

1. Sbucciare e pulire la zucca e cuocere per circa 40 minuti, finche e morbida. Lasciare raffreddare la zucca e poi frullarla.
2. Sciogliere il lievito nel latte tiepido – non freddo e non caldo.
3. Aggiungere la farina e il sale in una ciotola di vetro, quindi fare la fontana e versare al centro il latte col lievito. Mescolare a mano con una forchetta.
4. Unire la zucca e l’uva passa al composto. Mescolare per incorporarle al meglio. Coprire il composto con un strofinaccio pulito e farlo lievitare per due ore.
5. Riscaldare abbondante olio in un tegame o friggitrice a raggiungere la temperatura di 170°-180°C.
6. Prelevare la pastella a cucchiaiate e fatela scivolare nell’olio. Cuocerli per 3-4 minuti, rigirandoli per farle dorare e gonfiare completamente.
7. Fare intiepidire i sfinci, quindi rotolatele nello zucchero semolato miscelato con la cannella in polvere.
8. Servire caldo se possibile, anche se sono anche deliziosi freddi. Se servi con vincotto, passalo sopra poco prima di servire.

Ricetta facile per fare il Vincotto

• 750ml di vino rosso fruttato
• 150g zucchero
• Radice di zenzero fresco da 2cm – tagliata in 3 pezzi
• 1 stecca di cannella
• 1 cucchiaino di baccelli di cardamomo
• 2 chiodi di garofano

1. Metti tutti gli ingredienti in una casseruola dal fondo pesante e porta ad ebollizione. Una volta bollente, ridurre il calore a medio e cuocere a fuoco lento per circa 30 minuti fino a quando il vino si è addensato e schiumato. Il vino dovrebbe avere una consistenza sciropposa e dovrebbe essere ridotto a un quarto del suo volume originale.
2. Filtrarlo e lasciarlo raffreddare a temperatura ambiente.