Olive oil for frying: Panzerotti

Ingredients for 10/12 Panzerotti

Our Panzerotti dough

  • 60 g of sourdough (or 4/6g dry yeast)
  • 75 g of Manitoba flour
  • 75 g of double-milled durum wheat flour (semola)
  • 150 g half stone-ground whole wheat flour
  • 200 ml water
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 1 tsp of sugar
  • 2 tsp of extra virgin olive oil

Panzerotti Filling

  • 2 slices of Prosciutto cotto (cooked ham) or Mortadella
  • 125 g chopped Scamorza or Mozzarella
Time 40 mins (+24h leavening)
Level Medium
Servings 5 persons, 10/12 Panzerotti

Panzerotto is a typical Italian street food dish, mostly found in Puglia, Campania and Sicily; it is a fried turnover consisting of pastry and filling (originally, mozzarella and tomato sauce). Many more interpretations of the classic recipe have been introduced with time: ham and mozzarella, spinach and ricotta, tuna, and veggie versions with aubergines, onion, courgettes. The quality of the ingredients and that of the olive oil used to fry the panzerotti really makes a difference in the tastiness and healthiness of the final result!

Read more about how to cook with extra virgin olive oil here!

Choose the quality of our extra virgin olive oils.

Directions

Mix together all the ingredients for the dough until soft; let the dough rest overnight in a closed container in the fridge. On the next day, divide the dough into small rounded portions of 50/60g each, and leave them rise for approximately 3h, until they double in size. Work gently each portion to obtain a round shape, then place the filling in the middle: fill each panzerotto with a small piece of scamorza or mozzarella (which you would have let dry up a bit before using) and ham (or mortadella), fold over and press edges together to secure the panzerotto. Be careful not to overfill it, or the panzerotto could open during frying.

Frying

Always choose an extra virgin olive oil to fry, as it is one of the oils with the highest smoke point (210°C/410°F) (link). Put a generous amount of EVO oil into a small deep pan and heat it up. To check the temperature, dip a little piece of dough into the oil: if bubbles are formed around it, you are ready to fry. Lower the heat slightly to avoid reaching the smoking point, and fry two or three Panzerotti at a time (otherwise oil temperature would drop down). Turn the panzerotti on themselves a couple of times to obtain a uniform golden crust.

When you finish frying, collect the exhausted oil in a closed tin and dispose of it – don’t ever reuse it!