Nigella

Baci di Ricotta

4/25/2008 09:21:00 PM

Bart Simpson is eyeing off that baci di ricotta. But it's mine! All mine! Muahaha.

Nigella's baci di ricotta are incredibly easy to make, and perhaps even better than regular donuts. They're certainly my first choice for home-made deep-fried goodness. Donuts are, I think, better left to the professionals, unless you're very keen and have a lot of time on your hands. These puppies took about 20 minutes from start to finish, and no nerve wracking yeast was involved. All I had to do was stir the ingredients together, then deep fry teaspoonfuls of the mixture in a small saucepan.

They were perfect when we had some good friends popping in on the weekend for a coffee and a chat. (These friends included my parents' friends, their daughter, and her daughter). I had the mixture prepared just before they were scheduled to arrive, and started deep-frying when they got there.

I love the way the fried baci are irregularly shaped, with small crunchy bits. They look rather like aliens... or little cats... or odd sea creatures. Anyway, they're very cute. Unlike most of Nigella's dessert recipes, these baci weren't very sweet, so they need a good blanket of icing sugar.

I loved them! They were light and crispy, perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. What a great recipe - so easy, yet so delicious. It comes from Nigella's book, Feast, and also appeared in the May 14, 2003 edition of her At My Table column. Please give them a go. Smelling like smoky oil is a small price to pay for such deliciousness.

Below we have the cuter-than-cute Gemma. I don't tend to do a lot of cooking for small children - most of my friends are too young to have their own children, and my young nieces and nephews all live overseas - so I never know what to cook for them. Added to this, I'm told that children are notoriously fussy eaters. What do the kiddies even like these days? Is it still Paddle Pops and Primas? What with their Bratz dolls and their High School Musicals and their fruit at McDonalds (what the?!?!), I just can't keep up.

Little Gemma eyed the ricotta donuts with suspicion - she had never had ricotta before and thought a dessert with cheese might taste weird. She tried one, slowly at first, with a knife and fork. But I think she liked them because she said they were "yumyumyumyum", and "they taste like raisin toast"! (Must be the cinnamon). Then she ate 2 more. Yay!

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4 comments

  1. Anonymous12:35 AM

    Those ricotta balls look fantastic! I'm going to have to crack out the oil for deep frying soon....

    That steak sandwich in your previous post also looks very very tempting...

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  2. They look so good! Cute kid too :) I haven't made those although I've always wanted to since she does rave about them quite a bit. I have, however, made the spinach and ricotta baci (I think in the party food chapter) which are incredibly good. By the way how do you pronounce "baci"? I say it to rhyme with 'darcy' but I could well be wrong...

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  3. Hey guys,

    Thank-you! They are very yummy, and so easy!

    Laura - Gemma's adorable, hehe! I wouldn't say the baci as quite as good as Nigella says (I certainly couldn't wolf the whole plate down), but they are very tasty. Good to hear a review of the spinach and ricotta baci; I'll try them out soon! Baci is pronounced "ba-chee".

    Baci, bella!

    xox Sarah

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  4. Lol thanks, I was pretty sure "barsey" didn't sound very Italian. And you're right, what indeed is up with fruit at McDonalds?

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