Sfinci (Sicilian Fried Dough)

It's not Christmas Eve without our sfinci (Sicilian fried dough). These leavened fried dough balls are delicious savory or sweet!

Course antipasto

Cuisine Sicilian-Italian

Keyword sfinci, sicilian fried dough, sicilian sfinci, Christmas traditions, Sicilian recipes

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

4 hours resting time 4

Total Time 4 25

Servings sfinci

Calories 103kcal

In a small sauce pan, warm until lukewarm. Pour 1/2 cup of the water into a small bowl and stir in sugar. Pour the yeast over the water and let stand 10 minutes.
Pour the remaining 2 cups water in a large bowl. Stir in the yeast mixture. Add the flour and salt and using your hand, stir the mixture vigorously in a circular motion. Continue stirring this way for about 5 minutes until you have a thick, smooth dough.
Cover well, using blankets if you wish, and place in a warm, draft free location in your kitchen. Let sit for 4 hours. Your unlit oven with the light on is a good option. The dough is ready when bubbles form on the surface and it has at least doubled in size.

Fill a heavy bottomed sauce pan half way with vegetable oil. Slowly heat the vegetable oil on medium high heat. In order to test if it is hot enough, take a small piece of the sfinci dough and drop it in the oil. If it immediately begins to sizzle, the oil is ready.
Use a tablespoon or soup spoon to drop the dough into the hot oil, scraping off the spoon with your finger or another spoon. Do not overcrowd your pan. After about 1 1/2 minutes, carefully turn the sfinci over to brown the opposite side.
When they are a light golden color, remove the sfinci with a slotted spoon and place on a dish covered with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
Serve hot.

Just fried sfinci are also delicious lightly sprinkled with granulated sugar.
Sfinci stuffed with prosciutto cotto (cooked ham) and ricotta: Preparing the stuffed sfinci can be quite the sticky process! If you attempt to do so, I recommend you prepare a few before your oil is heated. Approximately twice the amount of batter normally used for sfinci is placed on a well floured surface. I watched my mother carefully flatten this incredible sticky dough, using more flour as needed, into a rectangular shape. Place half a slice of ham on the dough and top with about a tablespoon of ricotta. The dough is then rolled over the filling. It will resemble a lumpy, oddly shaped sticky mess but don't worry as it will puff up nicely in the oil.
Sfinci stuffed with anchovies: stir anchovy fillets (as many as you like) in the leavened dough and proceed to fry the sfinci.
Sfinci with raisins: stir raisins into the leavened dough and proceed to fry as indicated in the recipe.
Reheat leftover sfinci in a 350F oven until warmed through and crisp.
Sfinci can be frozen. To defrost, wrap in foil and place in a 350F oven until hot.
Please note that the nutritional information provided is approximate and based on one single sfinci without sugar or other ingredient added. This may vary according to the exact size of the sfinci.