ITALIAN RICE AND RICOTTA FRITTERS

Dessert - Vegetarian - Can be gluten free (READ footnotes)

These fritters are usually prepared during carnival time but you can really make them whenever you prefer; an Italian friend gave me this recipe and that I changed it a little bit ;-) I made it several times, in order to get the best result.

220 gr. Italian Carnaroli rice (about 1 cup)

500 ml. milk (2 cups)

1 orange, grated zest and juice

1 lemon, grated zest

50 gr. sugar (about 1/4 cup)

100 gr. Italian 00 flour (about 1 cup)

1 egg

50 gr. ricotta cheese (about 1/3 cup)

1 tsp salt

Italian extra virgin olive oil to fry

In a saucepan pour milk and bring to a boil; add salt and rice and cook until liquid is almost completely absorbed (about 20-25 minutes). Set aside to cool.

Once it is at room temperature, add sugar, both grated zests, the squeezed orange juice, the egg and the ricotta cheese, then add flour until you obtain a dense batter; if it's too dry, add a few tbsp of milk, if it's too thin, add some more flour.

Place a deep skillet with oil over medium-high heat.

When the oil is ready, start frying: spoon the mixture into the oil and fry until golden on both sides. Line on paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Serve cold or slightly warm, sprinkled with sugar (regular or confectioner's).

- I prefer to weigh ingredients and most of my recipes have weighed ingredients. I converted in cups, but it's an approximate measurement.

- When frying, don't put too much batter in the oil, or it will cool down too much. It's better to fry 5-6 fritters at a time.

- The amount of fritters this recipe will make, depends on how big you're making them.

- This recipe can be gluten free (use corn or potato starch or rice flour) but can't be lactose free. It is vegetarian.