SFINGE, ZEPPOLE, PIZZA FRITTA, AND BOMBOLONI, OH MAMA MIA! Since Little Owl doesn’t scream Italian-American, I snuck these little doughnuts onto the menu and called them beignets. But here’s the skinny on these goodies: my beignet recipe is really an eggless twist on four similar popular fried treats. New Orleans beignets are true to their French origin and begin with a choux pastry dough. Sfinge, popular in Sicily and also found in my hometown at the 9th Street Italian Market, sometimes include ricotta cheese in the dough. After frying, they are filled with custard cream and topped with a cherry. You’ll see these served in old-school New York pastry shops like Veniero’s in the East Village or Rocco’s on Bleecker Street. Pizza fritta are popular among Neapolitan families: Just take leftover pizza dough, fry it, and dust it with powdered sugar—that’s really the inspiration for my take on beignets. Fried dough. No egg. Pizza fritta is popular on Fat Tuesday or Martedì Grasso, to mark the last hurrah before the Lenten season fast begins. And then we have zeppole. Just about every street festival in New York has a zeppole stall. These delicious, fried balls have become synonymous with Italian doughnuts, and they are what my beignets most closely resemble. While pizza fritta tends to be puffy and square, zeppole take on the look of a doughnut hole. While we’re at it, zeppole closely resemble bomboloni (Italian for “doughnuts”), which are usually filled with a raspberry jam. Regardless of what you want to call them, here’s what I think: Fried dough and sugar plus Nutella equals love.
I love the look, the smell, and the feeling of nostalgia that these beignets evoke: They might remind you of carnivals or street fairs or warm doughnuts from your childhood on a snowy day. In my family, these are simply called “fried dough,” and as kids, we would go nuts over them. My Little Owl version of beignets are round, dusted with cinnamon sugar, plopped onto smears of Italian Nutella, then drizzled with homemade raspberry sauce—a departure from the expected Café Du Monde New Orleans–style beignet. When we first opened, I piped a raspberry filling inside the beignets like bomboloni. But no one loves raspberries as much as me, so serving it drizzled on the top or on the side for dipping is just as dreamy, too.
MAKES 14 TO 16 BEIGNETS
Raspberry Sauce
2 cups [240 g] fresh raspberries
1/2 cup [120 ml] red wine
2 tsp sugar
1 cinnamon stick
Beignets
1/2 cup [100 g] sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup [180 ml] whole milk
1 Tbsp molasses
11/8 oz fresh yeast
2 cups [280 g] all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3 cups [720 ml] or more neutral oil, such as canola or vegetable, for frying
1/4 cup [75 g] Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread, for serving
To make the raspberry sauce: In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the raspberries, red wine, sugar, and cinnamon stick and cook, stirring frequently to crush the berries into the liquid until it comes to a gentle boil, 3 to 5 minutes. Discard the cinnamon stick and use an immersion blender to blend into a smooth sauce. Set aside.
To make the beignets: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Set aside. Line a large plate with paper towels and set aside.
In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the milk until it reaches 105°F [40°C]. If you don’t have a thermometer, just know that you should be able to comfortably stick your finger in it.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, add the warmed milk, molasses, and yeast and on low speed, stir to combine, about 1 minute.
Add 1 cup [140 g] of the flour and the melted butter, increase the speed to medium, and mix until just combined, scraping down the sides to incorporate the flour as necessary. Gradually add the remaining 1 cup [140 g] of flour and mix until a soft, smooth dough forms, about 1 minute.
Turn off the mixer and drape the top of the mixing bowl with a moist, clean kitchen towel (mom-mom style) or cover with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in a warm spot on your counter until the dough rises and doubles in size, about 30 minutes.
Once the dough rises, it will be soft, elastic, and slightly sticky to the touch. Gently turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle a pinch or two more flour on top to make it less sticky and begin to pinch off 1 oz [30 g] balls of dough by squeezing the dough between your pointer finger and thumb. (You can weigh or eyeball your dough balls—it’s not an exact science here, but you’ll be looking to yield between 14 and 16 beignets.)
Slap the dough ball down onto your floured surface and, using a bit of pressure, roll it into a smooth ball. Repeat squeezing off dough balls and rolling, setting them 2 in [5 cm] apart on a baking sheet until you’ve pinched and rolled all the dough. Cover the baking sheet tightly with plastic wrap and return them to your warm spot to rise again, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat, add 3 cups [720 ml] (or more, if necessary) neutral oil to a depth of 3 in [7.5 cm] and heat until it reaches 350°F [180°C]. Use a thermometer to measure the temperature or drop a beignet in the oil—if the dough begins to crisp and sizzle, you’re in business!
Working in batches of 4 to 6 at a time (depending on the size of your pot—you don’t want to overcrowd them), place the beignets in the hot oil and fry. They will bob up and down in the oil as they cook and get your house smelling yeasty and sweet. Turn them often, frying evenly on all sides until golden, 3 to 4 minutes.
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the beignets to the prepared plate to drain for a moment before rolling each one in the cinnamon sugar. Pile them high on a serving platter along with the Nutella and raspberry sauce on the side for dipping. Serve immediately.
