How To Make Noto Cannoli

Cannoli found in Noto and all over Sicily can be traced back to the ancient Arab occupation of the island in 9-11th centuries. Several culinary traditions were introduced, including filled sweet pastries that evolved into modern-day cannoli.

The Cannoli

The pastry shell, known as "scorza," is typically made from a dough of flour, sugar, and wine and is deep-fried to achieve its characteristic crispy texture.

The traditional filling is made from fresh ricotta cheese sweetened with sugar and has various additions such as chocolate chips, candied fruit or pistachios.

When perfectly made and served, cannoli have a hard, crisp shell and fresh, soft filling. However, some cafes sell yesterday’s cannoli with a soft shell and hard filling - to be avoided at all costs!

I spent a morning with Chef Maria-Rita in her home kitchen learning how to make cannoli, and to my delight, the results were a pleasure to the eye, nose and palate.

The Cannoli Shells

We started by mixing the ingredients for the shell and kneading the mixture on the kitchen table until it was perfectly smooth.

Then began the careful process of rolling it out until it was just a few millimetres thick. This was followed by the even more delicate task of cutting into circles and wrapping them around cannoli shell moulds. NB These can easily be ordered from Amazon, for example CLICK HERE.

Once complete, each cannoli was individually fried by dipping it into boiling oil. The cannoli was then deep-fried and left to one side to cool.

The Cannoli Filling

Next, we turned to its filling. We purchased fresh ricotta cheese from the early morning market, which we spooned into a bowl and mixed in sugar and the zest of a lemon. Loving chocolate, I chose chocolate chips as the treat to add to the cannoli filling.

The cannoli shells were now cool, so the metal moulds were squeezed to release the cannoli shells surrounding them. Thankfully, there were no casualties! The filling was spooned into a piping bag, and the cannoli shells filled.

I dipped the ends of each filled cannoli in pistachio crumbs to finish them. There were some bits and pieces left so I made a scraps plate which tasted just great!

The finale, of course, was to tuck into these sweet delights. When they are fresh and made by your own hand, it’s hard to constrain yourself to just one!

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Cannoli Shell Recipe

Ingredients:

• 130g ‘00’ flour
• 10g sugar
• 15g Strutto / lard
• 10g of egg white
• 30g Marsala wine
• Pinch of Cabello / Cinnamon
  

Method:

1. Mix the ingredients in a bowl.
2. Knead out the mixture until it is perfectly smooth.
3. Cut into circles and wrap until cannoli shell moulds.
4. Deep fry the cannoli individually.
5. Leave to cool.
   

Cannoli Filling Recipe

Ingredients:

• 500g Fresh ricotta
• 70g sugar
• Zest of a lemon
• Optional additions: chocolate chips, dried fruit, chopped pistachios
  

Method:

1. Mix the ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add your chosen treat.
3. Spoon the filling into a piping bag and fill the cannoli shell.
4. Dip the ends of the cannoli in your chosen treat.

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