Coccoli
Coccoli, Prosciutto & Stracchino
We sometimes try coccoli in my market food tours, as well as make them at times in my pasta making dinner class and I love seeing everyone’s reaction when they try this Florentine specialty. It’s a street food found in Florence that is a crispy, fried ball of savory dough typically served with a smear of stracchino cheese and a little piece of prosciutto that you eat with your hands in two bites. You can find them at times at aperitivo places or as an antipasto in trattorias. They’re absolutely DELICIOUS and I am always shocked to hear some people vacation in Florence and haven’t tried these. I’m here to change that because they are quite easy to make at home to give you a taste of Florence in your own kitchen to share with family and friends
Coccoli
*recipe adjusted from Giallozafferano.it
Serves 8
Ingredients
400 grams 00 or All purpose flour
10 grams fresh brewers yeast
8 grams sugar
300 ml warm water, or more as needed
8 grams fine salt
Frying oil
Note: I use fresh brewers yeast because it’s a personal preference for no other reason that I find it easier to work with. I have found it at American supermarkets and its usually in the section with dairy/eggs. It is quite hard to find as the dairy selection in American supermarkets is extensive with so many brands so I typically ask someone that works there and they always point it out for me. If you use dry active yeast which is more common in the US there is a conversion factor as dry active yeast is 3 x more powerful than fresh yeast, so you would divide the recipe amount of yeast by 3 if using dry active yeast. I haven’t tested this with dry active yeast so it may not have the exact results but it should be a good attempt.
Method:
Add the flour and sugar to a bowl and mix with a whisk or fork to evenly combine. In a separate bowl add the fresh brewer’s yeast with a portion of the water. Add enough water to break up the yeast so that it’s well blended with the water, which makes it easier to work with in the dough. Add the blended yeast, and remaining water to the flour. Stir to combine with a fork as best as possible. The dough will not be super smooth, and should be sticky and slightly wet. If the dough seems dry I add a table spoon of water, mix and add more as needed. The water is what gives these coccoli the lightness in texture when they are fried. When the dough is mixed, you add the salt last and mix it in. Cover with a damp towel or loosely covered plastic so it can breathe. Let the dough rest for approximately 2 hours. It should double in size.
When the dough is ready, heat your oil to about 170 C. I like using a deep fryer, if you’re using a pot you want to have enough oil that the coccoli will be submerged as they are deep fried. You can either use a pastry scraper to scoop up pieces of the dough to fry but I prefer to use spoons. You dip the bottom part of the spoons only (the part that would pick up soup) in the hot oil carefully, and use one spoon to pick up some dough and the other spoon to drop the dough in the frying oil. By dipping the spoon in oil, it helps prevent the dough from sticking completely the same way you would wet your hands when making meatballs. We’re using oil here because if you used water, it would be quite dangerous for frying and cause lots of splattering.
The time it takes for frying varies. It does take a bit as the dough fluffs up in the oil, and you want them cooked through. In addition, by using two spoons that vary in size from home to home they could be different sizes. Using my normal soup spoons they take me 6 to 8 minutes to fry. I always test one to give me a more exact idea by taking it out at 6 minutes, giving it a few seconds to cool enough to handle and cutting them in half. The coccoli should be light, and crispy. If you see bright white dense dough in the center it means it needs to cook a couple minutes more. This will help you determine the frying time. Once the coccoli are fried, drain them from the oil and let them sit in the fryer basket resting outside of the oil or place them in a paper towel lined plate. Let it rest a few minutes so you don’t burn yourself.
They can be enjoyed as is, but the typical Florentine way is to break them open with your hands, smear some stracchino cheese and a little piece of prosciutto for a crispy bite of Tuscan heaven
