Cannoli Napoleon

Noli Napoleon, that delicious Sicilian recipe that we all love. And yes, it's the roll, and it's the dough you fry it. But I'm going to show you how to make it an easier version, but just as delicious. So let's start with the dough. Put some flour, some sugar, a little bit of salt. And that's going to just give it a whirl, aerate it a little bit. I'm going to mix the liquid for this. Now this is red wine, white wine vinegar, and olive oil. Yes, that's what goes into the dough. This is what makes them crispy and crunchy and delicious at the same time. Let's add the liquid right to the... And what you want is the dough to come together around the center. Give it a chance. And when you're making a dough and it doesn't pull together, it usually needs just a little bit more liquid. So I do have a little bit of water here. It develops into a ball in the center. Then you know that your dough is done. And that applies to most doughs. You know, when you make them in the food processor, they have to kind of collect around the blade in order to be... This dough needs to be nice and soft and tender. Let me just work it a little bit more. And you can see that the wine gives it a nice color. As you can see, soft, smooth, velvety. That's the way the dough should come out. You have to let the dough rest a little bit so it really stretches and you can roll it out nicely. So you take a piece of saran paper and just wrap it. And you can keep it in the refrigerator for about an hour. You can make the dough a day in advance, no problem. Just when it's a day in advance, it gets chilled so it gets hard to roll. Pull it out of the refrigerator half an hour before you actually roll it. So let's put it in the refrigerator, let it rest. We'll make the clean up, make the cream, and then fry the dough. I grew up in an idyllic place, connected to the earth. November, that was when the aloes were mashed and was kind of running down. The olive oil was still warm. I don't know whether it's, you know, that memory of nostalgia, but those were really idyllic flavors. And maybe they weren't so much nostalgia. Maybe they were real, the flavors of nature. But I know that they remain embedded in my library of flavors. And I still look for them these days, and sometimes I come close. We made the dough for the cannoli. Let's make the filling. And this is ricotta. And whip it up nicely until all the kind of little crumbly elements, you know, the feel. You want it nice and smooth. To this, we'll add powdered sugar, some Grand Marnier. Now, if you're conscious about alcohol, then you can use certainly a little bit of orange juice or anything that you enjoy. But a little Grand Marnier is really good. So here we are. It's nice and smooth. And now we'll add in the flavoring. So what do we have? We have, I like a little bit of chocolate chips in there. Take a chocolate that you like, a bitter chocolate or a sweet chocolate, toasted almonds, and candied orange rind. And chop it up as well. And you just fold it in. You don't want this to really kind of pulverize, especially if you're doing it in a food processor. If you add it way in advance, the food processor will chop it up. So just add it the last minute or just fold it in, and you're all set. So let me chill this. Let me get the dough out, and we'll make the shell. This is the dough that's rested. Okay, we'll do half of the time, and we'll roll it. You flour the rolling pin, you flour the dough, and you want to get it in a sort of rectangle form so that we can cut. So you want to make a nice thin sheet, and we will cut it. Make sure you use the flour so it doesn't stick on you. So I'm looking. We need a nice rectangle, not too thick, not too thin. Let's cut that half in fours. Have some vegetable oil heating in a wide pan. You want to sort of puncture a little bit the dough this way. The dough will let the air out, and it will fry evenly. Let's test if the oil is hot. Yes. Okay. And you see it, how it bubbles? That's the beauty of this dough. And you put just enough so they float gently in the oil. The dough has to be cooked thoroughly, and it has to actually be crunchy and flaky. That's what you're waiting for here. You know, it smells delicious, but, you know, you can make the stuffing first. You can fry these first, the shells, and you kind of let them now drain their fat. There's nothing worse than a soggy cannoli. The shells are being fried. They're nice and crispy. Put them on a paper towel. Let them dry, cool off, and then they're ready to be filled. A restaurant is a great place to go and to eat and to have fun, but I think it's a place also to learn. We have an olive oil tasting. Chef Fortunato Felleria usually gives four or five, because otherwise it could be too much. And you get an opportunity to really smell and taste each one individually, and then you can really tell the difference between the nuances of one oil versus the other. The shells are nice, and they're at room temperature now. They've cooled. So, a nice plate. I'm going to take a little bit of the filling, and I'll just put it on the base so it acts like a glue. So, it's going to hold. That's good. So, it's going to hold the cannoli down. So, here is one. Let's put a little stuffing. Let's take another. Now, you can put it evenly. You can put it sideways. You can see you have to just slightly pressure it into position. As you eat, the cream will spread out, okay? Here we go. So, that's a cannoli. I'm going to put just a little bit more on top, again, to hold the decoration. So, let's see. Maybe I'll do this one with some orange, just orange rinds like that. Some of the chopped oranges, just like this. Maybe put some on the plate. And a little bit of the powdered sugar. Now, let's make another one. So, you can see how easy these are and how you can kind of make them the last minute so they're nice and crunchy and delicious for your guest. So, it's a cannoli Napoleon. Oh, I'm looking for... Yeah, this one looks nice. No, we like this one. Yes. Okay, just press it into position. Just a little bit of the cream to hold the topping. So, let's do this one with chocolate. I don't know. Do I like anything? Yeah. A little bit of nuts as well, like that. A little bit of the... And voila. These are cannoli alla Lidia. It's sort of a layered cannoli. It's easy to make and it's going to be crunchy and delicious. Now, let me get a little bit of prosecco. This is arrozato. And I think I just might dive into this one with the chocolate. So, you have to listen to it, how it's going to crackle under my fork. It really is. So, look at this. You heard it and then you kind of collect. It crackles almost like glass. It is delicious. And I'm going to finish this guy. I'm going to have it all. But in the meantime, I want to invite you so I don't feel too guilty. And as we say at our house, tutti a tavola mangiare. So, yes, you're welcome to come. But I think you might want to do some of these for your own family.