Sicilians celebrate the feast of San Martino on November 11th with potato sfinci, a doughnut like fritter with potatoes and coated in sugar and cinnamon.
2potatoes medium sized (about 250 grams or 1/2 lb)
1 1/2cupsmilkwarmed
1envelopedry yeast (8 grams)
2cupsall-purpose flour
1/4cupgranulated sugar
pinchsalt
vegetable oilfor frying
For coating:
1/2cupgranulated sugar
1/2tspground cinnamon
Instructions
Boil potatoes until fork tender. Mash with a potato ricer or potato masher until there are no lumps.
Warm milk in a small sauce pan. Pour into a bowl and stir in the dry yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes until the mixture become foamy.
In a large bowl combine all-purpose flour, sugar and a pinch of salt. Stir in the potatoes.
Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast mixture. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth, elastic batter. It will be thicker than a pancake batter and quite wet and sticky.
Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk and bubbly, about 1 1/2 hours.
Heat vegetable oil (to the depth of 2 inches) on medium heat in a large heavy bottomed sauce pan.
Use a small cookie scoop or 2 spoons to spoon about 1 tbsp of batter into the hot oil. Do not over crowd the pan. Fry until golden brown, flip over and fry the other side of the sfinci. You may have to use your wooden spoon to keep the sfinci flipped over to brown the other side. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper towel covered sheet pan. Continue frying the remaining batter.
Once the sfinci have cooled slightly, dip them in granulated sugar and cinnamon before serving.
Notes
To test when the oil is hot enough for frying, place the handle of a wooden spoon in the center of the sauce pan. If the oil immediately begins to bubble vigorously around the handle, the oil is ready.
Fry the sfinci on medium heat otherwise they will brown too quickly on the outside and remain gooey on the inside.
Sfinci are delicious as is but you can also add the zest of one orange or lemon to the batter for extra flavor.
Sfinci are best enjoyed the day they are made as they tend to become soggy the following day.