Pistachio Cannoli
Fresh homemade Pistachio Cannoli are hard to beat. The shells are relatively easy to make if you have the right tools, which include: a tapered rolling pin, pasta machine, 4-inch round cutter and Cannoli Tubes or Molds.
Making the Dough:
The dough for the Cannoli shells is quite simple to make. Place the flour, sugar and cocoa powder together in a bowl and mix well. Make a well in the center, and add the melted butter, Marsala wine and vinegar. Mix to create a stiff dough. Add a few drops of water if necessary to get the dough to form. Knead the dough 5 minutes, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Rolling the Dough:
Once the dough has set up for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator, remove it from the plastic and press it down into a disk on a floured work surface. Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces and rewrap 3 of the pieces in the plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.
With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick.
Set up the pasta machine with a setting of 1 (the highest, thickest setting) and roll the dough through. Adjust the thickness to 3, and run it through again. There are several pasta machines on the market, and they have different numbering systems. The finished dough should be about 1/16-inch thick.
Lay the dough out on a work surface and cover with plastic wrap while rolling out the remaining dough.
Cutting the Dough:
Cut the dough into 4-inch round circles using a pastry/cookie cutter. The scraps can be formed together into a ball and rolled out again. Spray the cannoli tube molds with a light coating of vegetable spray. Take a greased cannoli tube mold and place it over the center of the dough.
Forming the Cannoli Shells:
Bring one edge of the dough up the mold and brush the very end lightly with egg white. Fold the other end up to overlap the first side and press gently to adhere with the egg white. Continue with as many cannoli tube molds as you have.
Frying the Cannoli Shells:
Using tongs, fry the cannolis, several at a time in the oil for about 30 seconds, rotating to brown them lightly all the way around. Remove from the oil and carefully remove the tube molds and return the cannoli to the oil to brown them on the inside. Use the tongs to keep them submerged and rotate if necessary. The cannolis should blister and turn brown all over, about another minute. Remove to the paper towel lined sheet and continue with the remaining cannolis. Cool them completely.
Filling the Cannoli Shells:
Put the filling in a piping bag fitted with a 3/4-inch tip, or simply cut the tip from the bag leaving a 3/4-inch opening at the end.
Pipe the filling into the cannoli shells, from each side. Dip the cannolis in the coarsely chopped pistachios (in the photos below I am dipping these into coarsely chopped almonds) on each end to garnish and dust with the powdered sugar. Cannolis are best eaten just after they are filled. The filling will turn them soggy with time.
PRODUCT TIP:
Cream of Pistachio, also known as “Fior di Pistacchio” is a sweet nut paste made from Pistachios. Think….Pistachio Nutella. It infuses a pistachio taste and a nice bright green color into any dessert. I use it to garnish plates (see above photo), as a layer in a Pistachio Semi Freddo, to make Pistachio ice cream and as a filling for Pistachio Macaroons. Honestly, like Nutella, it is amazing right out of the jar…grab a big spoon!
TOOL TIP:
Cannoli Tubes (or forms) are a must if you intend to make your own shells at home. They are made of stainless steel and have a seam that overlaps in the top center, allowing it to be compressed, which makes removal from the fried shell simpler. This set of 15 molds is very inexpensive…last week I used them to form corn tortillas while I fried them into crunchy taco shells.
Pistachio Cannoli
Course: DessertCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Medium10
servings45
minutes10
minutesIngredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup Marsala wine
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Vegetable oil spray
1 egg white, beaten
canola oil for frying
Pistachio-Ricotta Filling (recipe below)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pistachios
powdered sugar
- Pistachio-Ricotta Filling
4 cups fresh ricotta
1/2 cup pistachio cream (also known as Fior di Pistacchio)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Place the flour, sugar and cocoa powder together in a bowl and mix well. Make a well in the center, and add the melted butter, Marsala wine and vinegar. Mix to create a stiff dough. Add a few drops of water if necessary to get the dough to form.
- Knead the dough 5 minutes, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Once the dough has set up for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator, remove it from the plastic and press it down into a disk on a floured (semolina) work surface. Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces and rewrap 3 of the pieces in the plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.
- With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick.
- Set up the pasta machine with a setting of 1 (the highest, thickest setting) and roll the dough through. Adjust the thickness to 3, and run it through again. There are several pasta machines on the market, and they have different numbering systems. The finished dough should be about 1/16-inch thick.
- Lay the dough out on a work surface and cover with plastic wrap while rolling out the remaining dough.
- Line a baking sheet with paper towels to drain the cannoli. Heat 2-inches of canola oil in a large soup pot to 350-degrees F.
- Cut the dough into 4-inch round circles. The scraps can be formed together into a ball and rolled out again. Spray the cannoli tube molds with a light coating of vegetable spray. Take a greased cannoli tube mold and place it over the center of the dough. Bring one edge of the dough up the mold and brush the very end lightly with egg white. Fold the other end up to overlap the first side and press gently to adhere with the egg white. Continue with as many cannoli tube molds as you have.
- Using tongs, fry the cannolis one a time in the oil for about 30 seconds, rotating it to brown it lightly all the way around. Remove from the oil and carefully remove the tube mold and return the cannoli to the oil to brown it on the inside. Use the tongs to keep it submerged and rotate it if necessary. The cannoli should blister and turn brown all over, about another minute. Remove to the paper towel lined sheet and continue with the remaining cannolis. Cool them completely.
- Pipe the filling into the cannoli shells, from each side. Dip the cannolis in the coarsely chopped pistachios on each end to garnish and dust with the powdered sugar.
- Pistachio-Ricotta Filling
- Place the ricotta in a cheesecloth lined fine strainer and allow the excess whey to drain off into a bowl for 30 minutes.
- In a large bowl, mix the pistachio cream with the sugar and vanilla. When the ricotta is drained, stir it into the bowl and mix well to combine.
- Put the filling in a piping bag fitted with a 3/4-inch tip - or use a ziplock bag and cut a 3/4” opening in one of the corners.
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Pistachio cream and pistachio paste are not the same thing! Cream is thinner and has sugar and is like Nutella. Paste is just basically ground pistachios and super think as the name implies!