Holy Cannoli

This past Thanksgiving, we went non-traditional with the food in my house and did lasagna with the works. In keeping with the Italian theme, I attempted my first ever cannoli from scratch using the recipe that was on the box of the cannoli shells. What a giant disappointment! My ricotta cream was a soupy mess. I couldn't understand what I did wrong given I followed the recipe to the letter. My dad then asked me if I drained the ricotta. I replied no, as the recipe didn't say to do that. He looked at me as if I'd attempted to bake a cake without turning on the oven. Naturally, one must drain the ricotta.

This next go round, I did drain the ricotta and it was far better than the previous version. Also, I like candied oranges in my cannoli and post fruitcake season, they can be hard to find. Plus, the ones in the grocery are loaded with additives and junk. I instead mixed in chocolate covered orange peel and it was just as good. I would have preferred the large cannoli shells but could only find these mini ones--and ironically these were found in the cookie section of my grocery alongside the lady fingers--not in the Italian section. Nevertheless, I was pleased with the results.



Holy Cannoli
Cannoli shells*
16 oz ricotta
3 T, rounded, of powdered sugar
1/2 t of orange extract
1/2 t of cinnamon
1/4 c, chocolate covered orange peel, finely chopped
1/2 c, mini semi sweet chocolate morsels, plus more for dipping ends

Yield: about 12 mini cannoli, two each is six servings

The night before assembly, put ricotta in a mesh strainer above a deep bowl and place in fridge overnight. (In the morning, I had almost a 1/2 cup of liquid drained off. WOW!) Then mix or beat in the sugar, extract and cinnamon. Again, put the ricotta mixture in a strainer above a bowl in the fridge and allow the flavors to blend another three hours or so. When ready to serve, add the orange peel and the mini chips. Pipe the ricotta mixture into the cannoli shells (or if you don't want to pipe you can use a small offset spatula and spread it inside generously). Dip ends in the chocolate chips. Serve. Ideally, store the ricotta mixture seperate from the shells and wait to fill until prior to serving. Otherwise, they can become soggy if refridgerated in tact. That doesn't bother me but a traditional cannoli has a nice crunchy shell.

* You might want to buy two boxes of shells. I did and by the time I discarded the broken ones, I netted 12 between the two boxes.