Shells

170g flour

2 tbsp of sugar

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 tbsp of cocoa powder

1 tbsp of butter

1 small egg

3 tbsp of Port (if you don’t have Marsala)

Filling

325g ricotta

130g sugar

for 8 cannoli

I don’t like the scent of burnt oil in the house; on the other hand, I was craving cannoli. I’m thinking, ’Could I bake them?’.

I had prepared the filling the previous night, draining ricotta and mixing it with the sugar.

To make the cannoli shells, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, cocoa, butter, and egg. To give them their typical flavour, add 3 tablespoons of Port if you lack the classical Marsala.

Knead until you have a compact dough (insist until all the ingredients are fully incorporated!). Let it sit in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Divide the dough into 8 balls. Then, crush them and roll them out. Draw circles using a 12cm-diametre bowl. Cut them out. Wrap them around the cannoli tubes. Use a few drops of water to stick the ends.

Place the cannoli tubes into a baking pan. Then, bake in the preheated oven at 180°C for 15 minutes.

By using a piping bag, fill the shells with the ricotta and sugar mixture.

Tip: I prefer filling the shells every time we have cannoli, keeping the piping bag in a mug in the fridge.

For 500ml

200g almonds (soaked and peeled)

400ml water

I discovered some delightful Romanian almonds last week. Given our lactose intolerance, we decided to try and make our almond milk. We’ve tried that before, in 2015, upon returning from Sicily, but it turned out even tastier now.

We soaked the almonds and left them overnight in the fridge. We noted that they doubled their size. And then we peeled them.

In our version, A, we added the water and the almonds to the juicer and squeezed them. We also obtained some almond meal, which we dehydrated/dried in the oven.

If you don’t have a juicer, but you have a powerful blender, so version B, blend the water and the almonds and sieve the milk when you’re done.

I like it without added sugar – this way, I can feel the taste of the almonds.

The almond milk is in the fridge now. I bet it’s going to be perfect at breakfast, too, reminding us of a lazy morning in Noto.