Cartellate

Cartellate , recipe of the Apulian Cartellate or Carteddate , in Bari dialect, a typical Apulian dessert in the shape of a rose, which is fried and dipped in honey or cooked wine (or vincotto). Also known as Apulian crustoli , cartellate are widespread throughout Puglia , although cartellate from Bari are the most famous! Today we will see the Apulian Cartellate in their original recipe , an ancient dessert mentioned in the texts of the 1500s. But what are cartellate? They are really delicious crispy fried sweets , similar to the “crispedde” of Basilicata and “crispelle” of Calabria. They are very crumblyand one of their characteristics are the micro bubbles that are formed during cooking on the entire surface of the cartellate, thanks to the mixture with the white wine and thanks to the rest of the cartellate already formed.

The Cartellate, especially the Apulian Cartellate with cooked wine, the Cartellate di Natale , are among the Apulian Christmas sweets and represent the sheets of Jesus in which he was wrapped in the cradle, but also, due to their shape, the crown of thorns with which he is been crucified. The Cartellate can however also be served at Carnival , especially in the versionwith icing sugar or Cartellate with honey , as their taste is very reminiscent of fried Crostoli and Chiacchiere .

Cartellate are a very special dessert : they are too cute! Do you want to know how to make cartellate? I tell you right away that the Apulian Cartellate recipe is quite demanding . Not so much for the dough that is prepared in a short time, but rather the processing of the forms . You will have to roll out the very thin dough and create strips of pastry that will be pinched and rolled , forming a sort of rose. This step takes time, even if by dint of doing them you will become faster and faster! I’m sure the cartellate will give you a lot of satisfaction , once they are ready!

Below you will find the whole procedure, the version of the Cartellate with honey and the Apulian Cartellate with cooked wine . Choose your favorites or make half and half of them ! You will also find baked Cartellate , just so we don’t miss anything. Do you want to know why the Cartellate are called this way? It would seem that their name derives from their wrapped arabesque formassociating it with the ability of the paper to bend and wrinkle, just as cartelates appear. I think I’ve told you everything! Here is the recipe for the Cartellate.

Cartellate: recipe and preparation
250 g flour 00  100 g white wine   25 g extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sugar     1 pinch of salt

orange zest ( half an orange or 1 mandarin or half a lemon )

Preparation of the Apulian Cartellate
The dough of the Cartellate
To prepare the Cartellate, start with the flavored oil . Heat the oil and add the sliced peel obtained with a potato peeler (without the white part) of half an untreated orange or 1 mandarin and / or half a lemon . When it starts to sizzle and the first bubbles form, remove the oil from the heat and let it cool with the citrus peel so that it aromas. Work the flour with the cooled flavored oil from which you have removed the citrus peels by

hand or in the planetary mixer (K whisk or leaf) . Slightly heat the white wine and add it to the preparation, togetherwith sugar and a pinch of salt . Knead everything until the dough is smooth and homogeneous and until it comes off the walls (like pizza dough).

Mix flour, oil and sugar – Cartellate recipe

Create a ball and let the dough rest for 30 minutes at room temperature , wrapped in cling film.

How to make cartellate
After the time has elapsed, divide the dough into several parts and remove one piece at a time, leaving the others covered with the film, so that they do not dry out. Roll out the pastry thin . If you have a dough sheeter or pasta machine (like grandma duck or imperia) the operation will be even easier: you will have to roll from the largest notch to the smallest one . The dough must be very thin, approx. 2 mm , then proceeding to pull the dough up to the last or previous notch. You can roll out the dough into rather long strips (always a little dough at a time) even with a rolling pin .

With a notched pastry wheel , cut out somewide strips approx. 3 cm long and approx. 35 cm .

Roll out the dough of the Apulian cartellate recipe

Take a strip and start pinching the 2 flaps by folding them in half every 3 cm , sealing it between your fingers with pressure. Bring the joining point forward at the same time , so as to form a small hollow (typical of Apulian cartellate).

Roll up in pink , sealing a few conchetta between them with pressure , in order to fix it, preventing it from opening during cooking. Prepare a few strips at a time so they don’t dry out. If necessary, lightly wet your fingers to fix the points as you roll up to pink.

Place your cartellate on a clean cloth or parchment paper as you go .

How to make cartellate
When you are done, you can cover them with non-sticky cling film and leave them there for approx. 5-6 hours or even overnight , so that they dry well.  Heat the oil to a temperature of 170 ° C and fry 3-4 cartellate at a time . Put them in the oil upside down (upside down), so that their particular rose shape is fixed well and then turn them 2-3 times until they are golden.

Cooking recipe cartellate
Remove them with a slotted spoon and dry them with absorbent paper to remove excess oil.

The Apulian Cartellate are ready! You can now choose whether to serve them sprinkled with powdered sugar , or dipped in honey or vincotto .

Cartellate with honey
Heat the honey in a saucepan and dip a few Apulian cartellate at a time . A few moments will be enough, just the time to let them soak well on both sides.

Dip the Apulian cartellate in honey
Place them on the serving tray and decorate your honey cartellate with colored sprinkles . You can also use sugar beads or chocolate sprinkles or just a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Apulian cartellate with cooked wine
This is the most famous version of the Apulian Cartellate, served immersed in Apulian cooked wine . You can choose whether to use the classic vincotto , that is the cooked must or grape vincotto , or the fig vincotto . The preparation does not change.

In a saucepan pour 300 g of cooked wine , to make it more liquid.

Heat the Apulian cooked wine
Place the cartellate inside with the cavities facing down and leave them for 1-2 minutes . Then turn the cartellate on the other side and leave them inside the vincotto for another couple of minutes .

And dip the cartellate in cooked wine
Apulian cartellate with cooked wine recipe

Cartellate in the oven
Follow all the preparation of the Apulian cartellate. Instead of frying them, you can bake them in the preheated static oven at 180 ° C for approx. 15-20 minutes , until golden brown. Obviously , it is absolutely not the same and they will not turn out to be quite so blistering.

Recipe Apulian Cartellate with honey or Apulian Carteddate Dulcisss in the oven by Leyla
storage
The Cartellate can be kept inside a tin box , at room temperature, and away from sources of humidity or in airtight containers for 1 week . I advise you to lay the fried and cooled cartellate inside and dip them in cooked wine or honey just before serving, so that they do not lose their fragrance and crunchiness . Freezing is not recommended.