Donzelline (Little Damsels)

Fried Dough Strips

Donzelline, variante del pante tipica di Montalcino (Siena)

Ingredients

  • 880 gr of gluten-free flour (rice, corn etc.)
  • 15/20 gr of fresh yeast
  • about 400 gr of water
  • 20 gr olive oil
  • about 10 gr fine salt

Preparation

  1. Dissolve yeast in warm water
  2. Put the flour in a bowl
  3. Add the dissolved yeast and start working the dough by hand
  4. Mix in the olive oil and salt
  5. Continue kneading until you get a smooth loaf
  6. Let rise for about an hour and a half at room temperature
  7. Divide the dough into two parts, leaving one covered with a dishtowel
  8. With a rolling pin, roll out dough very thin, max half a centimeter
  9. Cut into strips with a knife or pastry wheel. The shape and size are up to you
  10. Fill quite a big and deep pan with oil, sunflower or corn, and heat up. When the oil starts to sizzle without burning, start frying
  11. When the donzelline have a nice golden color on both sides, remove with a skimmer
  12. Place them on a tray covered with paper towel
  13. Serve as is or with charcuterie and/or cheese

Donzelline are a variation on bread. The main diff erence isn’t in the ingredients but in the way they are made and cooked, fried. Lapo loves them, so I am happy to make them when possible. When I was a child, I loved watching the Donzelline “while they danced in the oil”. My grandmother, Laudomia, always told me that they were called Donzelline because they were like many young girls, donzelle, who danced gaily. I have always believed in this poetic meaning behind the name without giving it a second thought if it was true or not. Now that we can make them outside in the woods and, most especially, with my grandson, it is truly… poetic. The last time we made them was a beautiful experience. Lapo helped me every step of the way, especially in cutting the strips, where he really showed his artistic side and creativity. He was a master at frying them in very hot oil. Good job, Lapo! Since we are both “avid taste testers”, we quickly established frequent quality-control samplings of the freshly deep-fried Donzelline. When I was a little girl, I used to be sent to buy fresh dough all by myself at one of the bakeries in Montalcino. On my way home, with the dough all wrapped in yellow paper, I was already thinking about the donzelline that my family and I were to eat at lunch. My mouth was already watering then just as it does today, even if we now make it with gluten-free fl our.

If you try one of these recipes, share a picture with us and remember to pair your dish with a SanCarlo wine!

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