CookEat Recipe
Sweet Chickpea and Chestnut Tortelli
Thin fried half-moon pastries generously filled with smooth chickpea and chestnut paste, grape-must syrup, fruit mostarda, candied peel and cinnamon.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 300 g dried chickpeas; 7–8 peeled dried chestnuts, about 40 g; Ready-to-use sapa, about 60–100 ml, enough to soften and sweeten the filling; 100 g prepared fruit mostarda, finely chopped if chunky; this is a sweet fruit-and-mustard condiment, not plain mustard sauce; 40 g candied citrus peel, diced very small; 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon; A pinch of salt for the filling and another for the dough; A little caster sugar, only if the filling needs more sweetness; 290 g plain flour: 270 g for the dough and about 20 g reserved for rolling; 20 g butter, softened; 15 g caster sugar for the dough; 1 egg; About 45 ml white wine or Marsala, enough to bind the dough; About 1 litre neutral oil for frying, according to the pan; 25 g icing sugar for finishing.
Step 2
Sort and rinse the dried chickpeas. Cover generously with cold water and soak overnight for about 8–12 hours in the refrigerator at 4°C or colder. Drain, discard the soaking water and rinse. Put the chickpeas in a pan with the dried chestnuts and fresh water to cover by several centimetres. Bring to a boil, then simmer until both are very soft, about 1½–2½ hours or longer as needed, adding hot water to keep covered. Use fresh cooking water and thorough cooking rather than the historical ash solution or sodium carbonate.
Step 3
Drain the hot chickpeas and chestnuts, reserving a little cooking water separately. While still hot, pass them through a food mill or press through a sieve to make a smooth paste. Mash any remaining lumps thoroughly; if the chickpeas are still hard, continue cooking them before making the filling.
Step 4
Mix the warm paste with a pinch of salt, enough sapa to make it fairly soft but able to hold a mound, the prepared fruit mostarda, candied peel and cinnamon. Taste and add a little caster sugar only if needed. Spread in a shallow container to cool promptly. Keep refrigerated until ready to shape; the filling should be cool and thick, not runny.
Step 5
Mix 270 g flour with 20 g softened butter, 15 g sugar, the egg and a pinch of salt. Add the wine or Marsala gradually to form a smooth firm dough, using a little more only if needed. Knead briefly until smooth, cover and rest for about 30 minutes. The reserve flour is for rolling, not an automatic addition to the dough.
Step 6
Roll the dough very thinly, about 1–1½ mm, using only enough of the reserved flour to prevent sticking. Cut scalloped rounds about 8 cm across. Put a generous small mound of filling, roughly 18–20 g, on one half of each round, leaving a clear border. Moisten the edge lightly with water if necessary, fold over and press firmly to seal without trapping air. Gather and reroll scraps gently. Aim for about 45–50 plump half-moons; adjust the mound to what each disc can seal securely rather than leaving open edges.
Step 7
Heat the frying oil in a deep sturdy pan to about 170°C, filling the pan no more than halfway. Fry a few tortelli at a time for about 2–4 minutes, turning, until lightly golden and the pastry is cooked through. Check at least 74°C in the filling of a representative piece, especially if assembled cold. Drain on absorbent paper or a rack. Let the fierce heat subside, then dust lightly with icing sugar and serve. Refrigerate leftovers promptly at 4°C or colder and use within 2–3 days.
Step 8
If neither sapa nor fruit mostarda is available, omit both and instead add 80 g caster sugar to the chickpea-chestnut paste. Dissolve 7 g culinary mustard powder in about 30 ml hot reserved chickpea water, then stir it into the filling with the same 40 g candied peel, two teaspoons cinnamon and pinch of salt. Add a little more hot chickpea water only as needed for a fairly soft but moundable paste. Cool, fill and fry exactly as above. This is an alternative filling, not an addition to the sapa-and-mostarda version.
Step 9
For the alternative cenci pastry, replace the entire main dough with 120 g plain flour, 10 g softened butter, 10 g caster sugar, one egg, a pinch of salt and 7.5 ml brandy. Mix and knead to a firm smooth dough, cover and rest 30 minutes, then roll very thinly with a little additional flour if needed. Cut the same 8 cm scalloped rounds, fill, seal and fry as above. This smaller dough makes fewer tortelli; use as much of the same prepared filling as it encloses securely and refrigerate or freeze the remaining filling promptly. Do not combine the two dough formulas.
Step 10
Plain rendered lard may replace the frying oil at the same frying temperature, using enough to reach the same pan depth. Prepared sapa and fruit mostarda are used as ready-to-use ingredients; no home fermentation or room-temperature preserving step is required for the main filling.
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