I mentioned recently that we made ‘our version’ of Cannoli. And here it is! Rather than going to the hassle of making the shells, forming them into tube shapes, and carefully filling them…we made a dip! Afterall, we are dip people. And let’s get real…how fun is this?
The past several weekends I’ve been soaking up the sun at Kara and Cliff’s pool every chance I get. We pretty much go both Saturday and Sunday, if possible. It is the life. The only bad thing is that I come home and am so tired from the sun! How can I enjoy a day in the sun but not let it drain all of my energy? I wish I knew the answer to that! The weekends can’t be all about pool and relaxation because we’ve got blog work to do too! We made this dip 2 weekends ago after a long day at the pool. I am so glad that we made it because it is one of the most fun desserts we’ve made yet.
I never tried cannoli until just recently. I think the idea of ricotta in dessert was initially weird to me. But I’ve since learned that ricotta in desserts is basically perfection, so maybe I should give cannoli a chance. I never should have tried!! We chose to fold in mini chocolate chips, but you could use pistachios too, which is how I normally see cannoli prepared. But we needed CHOCOLATE!
Here’s what you’ll need
Mic together flour, salt, sugar and butter
Start adding the marsala wine, enough to form a firm dough
Knead dough for a few minutes, then form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and let it sit for an hour
Place the ricotta in a strainer and place the strainer over a bowl to drain out excess water
In a large bowl, mix together confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and ricotta cheese
Finally, fold in the mini chips – 1/2 cup, but it never hurts to add a few more for good luck
While the cannoli refrigerates, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness
Use a pizza cutter to cut dough into squares, about 1×1 inch
Fry a few at a time, for about a minute, or until crisp and golden
Allow chips to cool then sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and serve with cannoli dip! Mama Mia!
Ingredients
Cannoli Chips
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon sugar
pinch of salt
¾ cup marsala wine
vegetable oil, for frying
Ricotta Dip
16 ounces whole milk ricotta
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup mini chocolate chips
Directions
To make the chips, mix together flour, butter, sugar and salt. Begin to add the marsala wine, adding enough so that a firm dough forms. Knead dough a few minutes, until smooth, then form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Cut the dough in half, and using a rolling pin, roll out to about ¼ inch thickness. Use a pizza cutter to cut into squares about 1 inch by inch. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
Heat the oil in a large pan until it reaches 375 degrees F. Drop a few chips at a time into the hot oil, and cook for about a minute, or until crisp and golden. Remove from the oil and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to cool completely.
To make the filling, first let the ricotta sit in a strainer over a small bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to drain out any excess water. Then, mix the ricotta with the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Last, fold in the mini chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, until set. Serve dip along side cannoli chips lightly sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar.
Source: adapted from Italian Food Forever
