A year ago, almost to the day, I arrived in Lecce for the first time. I think you never forget your first impressions of a city, especially those cities that are close to your heart. I remember stepping off the train late in the afternoon. The streets of the historic center were so quiet, almost deserted. The only sound I heard were the wheels of my suitcase click-clacking against the cobblestone street. As I made my first stroll through the baroque historic center, I felt a bit lonely. The only eyes I met were those of the strange characters carved out of stone and hanging from buildings, churches and doorways. They stared down at me with smirks that felt like recriminations for coming to Salento solo.
Then I met up with Ylenia and Claudia who introduced me to Antonella, Pina, Antonella, and Debora. We gathered in Piazza St. Oronzo for the Italian unification celebration. Most of Lecce's population came out for the celebration, too, and it seemed that these ladies knew everyone in town. More and more people joined our group, as we popped in and out of cafes, wine bars, bread shops, and pastry shops, meeting proprietors and even more people of the city. Those strange stone characters on the buildings no longer laughed at me, and I have never again felt alone in Lecce or Salento.
Another thing that stands out about this trip, and all trips to Salento since, was that everyone I met either gave me some kind of food gift or offered me something to eat. As it was almost March 19th, St. Joseph's day in Italy, zeppole di San Giuseppe were the most offered gift. In the same way one might offer to get you a coffee, I was offered a zeppola everywhere I went. I remember the first zeppola I had in Puglia with my new friends, and how they waited with baited breath as I chose between the fried and baked version. I can still hear their collective exhale of relief when I chose the fried one. Whenever I see or eat a zeppola di San Giuseppe, I think of my first day in Lecce and all those that I met, who I now call friends.
Fried dough, with an crunchy crust and airy in the center. There's a generous topping of pastry cream flavored ever-so-slightly with lemon and that little bit of chocolate to add even more decadence to the whole thing. If you're in Italy, you're obliged to have at least one of these over the holiday.
Zeppole di San Giuseppe in the pastry case (these are the baked version)
On March 19, Italy celebrates St. Joseph's Day, a day dedicated to Joseph the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus. The saint is honored with feasts and parades, especially in the south of Italy. It is the onomastico (a second birthday of sorts) for all those named Giuseppe or Giuseppina. Since 1968, the day is also father's day in Italy. Basically, there's a reason for everyone in Italy to celebrate.
Besides the feast, zeppole di San Giuseppe are a huge part of the holiday celebrations. I saw the zeppole in pastry windows at least a week before the actual holiday. The pastry is choux paste fried in the shape of a ring (ciambella) and topped with pastry cream. In Naples, where the first historic account of zeppole di San Giuseppe was recorded in 1837, they add amarena cherries to the top of the pastry cream. The zeppole I've made to celebrate San Giuseppe are the Pugliese version I had on my first day in Salento, topped with a swirl of chocolate ganache.
Zeppole di San Giuseppe
(makes about 12)
For the dough (choux paste):
1 ½ cups (350 ml) water
6 tablespoons (80 grams) butter, cubed
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 1/3 (180 grams) cup all-purpose flour
5 eggs
6 to 8 cups of peanut oil for frying
For the pastry cream:
3 ¼ cups (750 ml) whole milk
Rind of one lemon (only the rind, not the pith)
8 egg yolks
2/3 cup (160 grams) granulated sugar
Scan 1/2 cup (50 grams) cornstarch
3 1/2 tablespoons (25 grams) all purpose flour
4 tablespoons (55 grams) butter, cubed
For the chocolate ganache:
4 1/2 ounces (150 grams) dark couveture chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup (150 ml) heavy cream
To make the choux paste: In a saucepan, bring the water, butter, sugar and salt to a rolling boil. (It's important that the butter is in small cubes, so it melts and combines with the water before the mixture comes to a boil.) Add the flour all at once, and remove from the heat. Stir until all the flour is combined. Place back the mixture back on the stove and stir over medium heat for about 5 minutes to dry out the mixture. Remove from the heat and, after allowing the mixture to cool for 10 minutes, add the eggs one at a time. Stir in each egg completely before adding the next.
In a deep pot, heat the oil to 360° F (180° C). Place the choux paste into a piping bag attached with a 14mm star tip (the tip opening should be about 1/2 inch in diameter). Cut 4X4-inch squares of parchment paper. Pipe the choux paste onto the parchment paper, making rings that are little smaller than the paper, 3 1/2 inches in diameter. (I actually piped little "snails" filling the center, but it wasn't necessary as the dough rises quite a bit as it fries, leaving only a small hole in the center.) Place the choux paste and parchment paper into the oil. Once the dough starts frying, the paper will fall away easily; then remove it from the pan. Fry the zeppole about 4 minutes on each side. Depending on the pan size, fry only 2 or 3 zeppole at a time, so you don't lower the temperature of the oil. Once the zeppole are cooked through, place on paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with powdered sugar once they've cooled slightly.
To make the pastry cream: Place the milk and the lemon rind in a nonreactive heavy bottom sauce pot and leave for 20 minutes. Then bring the milk to a scald. Let the lemon rind steep in the milk for 10 minutes. In the meantime, in another bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg yolks until the mixture becomes pale. (The whisk must be nonreactive also.) Add the cornstarch and flour and whisk to combine.
Strain the lemon rind out of the milk, and slowly pour the warmed milk into the egg yolk mixture. Whisking together as you pour. Once all the milk and egg yolk mixtures are combined, place back into the saucepot and over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, whisking vigorously the entire time. Once the mixture has boiled, cook for another 2 minutes, again stirring the entiring time. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine-mesh seive. Add the butter to the top of the pastry cream, stirring in once the butter has melted. Place the bowl into an ice bath and let cool for 10 minutes. Spread the pastry cream into a 9x13-inch glass dish and cover with plastic wrap. The plastic wrap should be touching the pastry cream to keep the cream from developing a film. Refrigerate until cold.
To make the chocolate ganache: Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl. In a sauce pot, heat the cream just until it's scalding (little bubbles appear around the rim). Pour the cream over the chocolate. Let the mixture rest for a minute, then slowly whisk together. To create a smooth ganache, place the whisk in the center of the mixture and whisk in a small, slow, circular motion until the chocolate and cream combine. Let the ganache cool and thicken just to the point that it will hold its form when it's piped.
To assemble the zeppole: Place the pastry cream into a piping bag fitted with a 12mm star tip. Into the center of each zeppole, pipe the pastry cream. I piped a generous two "snail-shaped" circles of pastry cream, one on top of the other. Place the ganache into a piping bag fitted with a 10mm star tip. Pipe a small ring of ganache on the top center of each zeppole. They are best minutes after they've been garnished, and should be eaten the day they've been made. Enjoy!
NOTE: To make the Neapolitan version, with a cherry topping instead of the chocolate one, you need a jar of amarena cherries, or another type of sour cherries, in syrup. Drain some of the syrup from the cherries, and top each zeppole with one cherry.
Zeppole di San Giuseppe from Scaturchio in Napoli
This week (and last) is dedicated to a "Taste of Puglia." Like this post, the others included little tastes of Puglia and some of the things we'll see, do and taste on this Food & Wine Lover's Culinary Tour in Puglia. Ylenia will be with us the entire trip, and her love and knowledge of Salento and the people she introduces us to will be some of the most memorable parts of your trip.
Read more about the food and beauty of Puglia - Puglia section here on the blog.
Related Posts:
The Pastries of Lecce with Pastry Chef Luca Capilungo
Making Orecchiette and Salentine Breads - Cooking with Mamma Giulia in Salento
Artisanal Cheese at Masseria CinqueSanti in Puglia
The Art of Making Pasta by Hand: A Pugliese Pasta Lesson with Nonna Vata
Cheese in Puglia - Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento
Under the Salento Sun - The Masserie of Puglia
Traditional Salentine Dishes at Locanda Rivoli in Lecce
Lecce: The Baroque Beauty of Puglia
Pugliese Pasta Dish: Sagne Ncannulate con Sugo Schiattariciati
Classic Salentino Cuisine Reinvented at Sette di Sette in Lecce
Tour of Masseria L'Astore and its Frantoio Ipogeo in Salento
Lunch Salento Style at Cantine Menhir
Shopping and Eating Local in Italy - Farmers' Market in Lecce
Sagne Ncannulate Schiattariciati - Pugliese Pasta with Schiattariciati Tomato Sauce
The Dish from Lecce: Rustico Leccese
The Dish from Puglia: Ricci di Mare (sea urchins) from Porto Badisco
This Dish from Puglia: Friselle
Christmas Around Italy - Christmas Desserts in Salento
Eclairs with Chocolate Pastry Cream
Torta Setteveli - Seven Veils Cake from Palermo
Journey Through the Pastries of Napoli






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