Chiacchiere are a fried Italian dessert made around Carnevale. They are light and crisp and topped with powdered sugar – so delicious!
🍊 What are chiacchiere?
Think of chiacchiere as fried sweet pasta dough. That’s right – the recipe and process to make chiacchiere and pasta dough is very similar. You even use a pasta roller to roll out the dough to a thin consistency, just like you would with pasta.
Chiacchiere have beautiful hints of orange flavors from the orange zest and juice, and they’re topped with powdered sugar in the end – just delicious!
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🇮🇹 Why you should make them
- It’s a traditional Italian recipe. If you love traditional Italian desserts, this is a good recipe to try. Their uniqueness (and delicious flavor!) is sure to be a crowd pleaser.
- They’re tasty. Chiacchiere are fried (already a sign that they’re going to be delicious!) and feature subtle orange flavors that are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.
- They’re addictive. You definitely won’t be able to eat just one! But they are so light (and crisp!) that eating multiple is no problem
🇰 Pronounciation
The letters “ch” in Italian make a hard “k” sound so it is pronounced key-AH-kyer-ay.
Did you know that the word “chiacchiere” in Italian means “chatter” or “small talk”
🎭 What is Carnevale?
Carnevale, or Carnival, is a celebratory festival held in some countries to celebrate the Catholic faith. It’s always held in February or March around Easter time, but the dates when it’s held vary depending on when the holiday falls.
What makes this festival unique is that it lasts approximately two weeks, and is said to be one of the biggest holidays of the year. It goes from 2 weeks before Lent to Shrove Tuesday.
When attending Carnevale, you can expect to see children dressed in costumes, who celebrate with their families in public squares. Many activities are available during the event including games, plays, music, and of course: food.
Interestingly, carnevale actually means “without meat”. Since Catholics give up meat during Lent, this celebration has a focus on food to allow them to indulge in their favorite decadent dishes before having to give up meat and eat more simply during Lent, until Easter.
🧈 Ingredients
- All purpose flour – the base of the dough
- Eggs – help form the dough and give it structure
- Granulated sugar – will give them a beautiful sweet flavor
- Butter – helps make the dough soft and melt in your mouth!
- Grappa
- Vanilla extract – for extra flavor
- Salt – to make the flavors pop
- Orange juice and zest – gives a beautiful citrus flavor
- Peanut oil or sunflower oil for frying
- Powdered sugar for dusting
👑 Chiacchiere origin
Historians say that chiacchiere originated in ancient Rome. In that time they were called “frictilia” and fried in pig’s fat.
They were prepared by the Roman women in large quantities to celebrate the “Saturnali” which is the ancient Roman equivalent of Carnevale. They were prepared in large quantities because they were supposed to last for the whole Lenten period.
Naples origins
Some say that chiacchiere originated in Naples and that their name is tied to the Queen Margherita of Savoia. One day when she was entertaining and chatting with guests, she became hungry. She asked her chef to prepare something for them, and he came up with these fritters.
He named them “chaicchiere” after the Queen’s chatter with her guests. “Chiacchiere” literally translates to “chatter” or “small talk”
💬 Other names
Even though they originated in ancient Rome or Naples, chiacchiere are now made all over Italy. Depending on where you’re located in Italy, however the name will change:
Chiacchiere – the most common name, and referred by this name in the regions of: Molise, Puglia, Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Sicily, and even the city of Milan
Cenci di carnevale – Tuscany
Bugie – Liguria and Piemonte
Frappe – in Rome and surrounding areas
Crostoli – Trentino and Friuli Venezia Giulia
📋 How to make chiacchiere – step by step
First we need to make the dough:
- Place the flour on a flat surface, and make a well in the middle with a bowl. Add all the ingredients to the well except for the grappa and the frying oil.
- With a fork, start whisking the ingredients in the well and gradually start bringing the flour in while you whisk. Continue until all the flour is brought in and the mixture is composed of large chunks.
- Add the grappa to the mixture.
- On a wood board (if you can – this makes it easier to knead), knead the dough for about 10 minutes until a smooth ball forms.
- Wrap the ball in saran wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Then we need to roll out and form the dough
- Remove the dough from the saran wrap and attach your pasta roller attachment to the power hub of your KitchenAid stand mixer. Or get ready to use your pasta machine.
- Cut a piece of dough from the ball. You will get about 4-5 pieces from the dough. Flatten the piece of dough with your hands.
- Lightly flour your hands. On speed 2 and setting 1 on the pasta roller, feed the piece of flattened dough through the roller. Once it has gone through, fold the dough into 3, rotate and feed through again. Rotating the dough is what makes it rectangular in shape. Repeat this process two more times until you’ve fed all sides of the dough through at setting 1.
- Now change your roller setting to 2 and feed the dough through the roller once. Keep flouring your hands if dough is sticky.
- Keep feeding the dough through on each roller setting (only once) until you’ve reaching setting 7. I found this was a good thickness for chiacchiere – the thinner the better! Set your dough sheet aside and repeat these steps for the remaining pieces of dough.
- Note the dough sheets will be quite long so you may have to cut them in half or thirds if you’re working on a small counter (like I am!). Grab a fluted pastry wheel and cut the large dough sheets into smaller rectangles. I like to make mine about 1.5-2 inches wide.
- Cut a slit or two into each rectangle. Or make a slit in the middle of each rectangle and twist one end through the slit. Set aside. Repeat until all the dough is finished.
Finally we need to fry them
- In a shallow pan, warm up the oil over medium heat. The amount of oil you use will vary depending on the size of your pan but there should be a few inches of oil in the pan.
- Working in batches, drop the pieces of dough in the hot oil. They should almost immediately puff up and start to turn golden in color. Fry on one side and using two forks, flip to the other side. Depending on how how your oil is, it should take about 30 seconds per side.
- Remove the chiacchiere from the pan and place on a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Repeat until all the pieces of dough are fried.
- Dust with powdered sugar. Serve and enjoy!
🎀 The shape
There are a few common shapes for chiacchiere. They all start with a rectangle shape and are shaped further from there.
- Small rectangles with one or two slits in the middle of each – you will see photo examples in this post
- Small rectangles with one slit cut in the middle and one end twisted through the slit – you will see photo examples in this post
- Fiocchetti (bows) – Rectangles pinched in the middle to form a bow shape
❓FAQ
Most of the desserts found at Carenevale are fried. In addition to chiacchiere, other desserts like fritelle, struffoli, Migliaccio, and castagnole are popular.
Why are fried foods popular at Carnevale?
Fried foods, especially desserts, are popular at Carnevale because the tradition started hundreds of years ago when people didn’t have ovens. Thus, frying desserts was the only option for offering sweet treats.
♨️ Storage
Chiacchiere will last at room temperature in an airtight container for about one week.
👩🏻🍳 Top tips
- When kneading, use a wooden board if you can. The dough will come together faster this way.
- Instead of kneading by hand, you can use a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment to knead
- Grappa is the traditional liqueur to use, but it can be substituted with marsala, rum or white wine
- If you prefer to not use alcohol in baking, you can omit it. You may just have to use less flour if omitting the alcohol
🍰 More Italian Carnevale recipes
If you tried making these Chiacchiere, or any other recipe on the blog, please let me know what you thought of it in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and TikTok to see more delicious food and what I’ve been up to.
Recipe
Chiacchiere
Chiacchiere are a fried Italian dessert made around Carnevale. They are light and crisp and topped with powdered sugar – so delicious!
Ingredients
- 3 eggs large
- 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 tbsp grappa
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 50 mL freshly squeezed orange juice about juice of one medium orange
- 2 tbsp orange zest
- 500 grams all purpose flour about 3.5 cups
- 700 mL peanut oil or sunflower oil for frying
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
Make the dough
-
Place the flour on a flat surface, and make a well in the middle with a bowl. Add all the ingredients to the well except for the grappa and the frying oil.
-
With a fork, start whisking the ingredients in the well and gradually start bringing the flour in while you whisk. Continue until all the flour is brought in and the mixture is composed of large chunks.
-
Add the grappa to the mixture.
-
On a wood board (if you can – this makes it easier to knead), knead the dough for about 10 minutes until a smooth ball forms.
-
Wrap the ball in saran wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Roll out and form the dough
-
Remove the dough from the saran wrap and attach your pasta roller attachment to the power hub of your KitchenAid stand mixer. Or get ready to use your pasta machine.
-
Cut a piece of dough from the ball. You will get about 4-5 pieces from the dough. Flatten the piece of dough with your hands.
-
Lightly flour your hands. On speed 2 and setting 1 on the pasta roller, feed the piece of flattened dough through the roller. Once it has gone through, fold the dough into 3, rotate and feed through again. Rotating the dough is what makes it rectangular in shape. Repeat this process two more times until you've fed all sides of the dough through at setting 1.
-
Now change your roller setting to 2 and feed the dough through the roller once. Keep flouring your hands if dough is sticky.
-
Keep feeding the dough through on each roller setting (only once) until you've reaching setting 7. I found this was a good thickness for chiacchiere – the thinner the better! Set your dough sheet aside and repeat these steps for the remaining pieces of dough.
-
Note the dough sheets will be quite long so you may have to cut them in half or thirds if you're working on a small counter (like I am!). Grab a fluted pastry wheel and cut the large dough sheets into smaller rectangles. I like to make mine about 1.5-2 inches wide.
-
Cut a slit or two into each rectangle. Or make a slit in the middle of each rectangle and twist one end through the slit. Set aside. Repeat until all the dough is finished.
Fry the chiacchiere
-
In a shallow pan, warm up the oil over medium heat. The amount of oil you use will vary depending on the size of your pan but there should be a few inches of oil in the pan.
-
Working in batches, drop the pieces of dough in the hot oil. They should almost immediately puff up and start to turn golden in color. Fry on one side and using two forks, flip to the other side. Depending on how how your oil is, it should take about 30 seconds per side.
-
Remove the chiacchiere from the pan and place on a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Repeat until all the pieces of dough are fried.
-
Dust with powdered sugar. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- When kneading, use a wooden board if you can. The dough will come together faster this way.
- Instead of kneading by hand, you can use a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment to knead
- Grappa is the traditional liqueur to use, but it can be substituted with marsala, rum or white wine
- If you prefer to not use alcohol in baking, you can omit it. You may just have to use less flour if omitting the alcohol
