Cucina Archive · Dolce

Cannolo Senza

Cannoli filling and no cannolo. Ricotta beaten with sugar, chilled, and buried under crushed pistachios. Three ingredients, and two of them have nowhere to hide.

C13 · Partial record · yields Not recorded. The tub photographed is a single generous serving

A deli tub of sweetened ricotta, still slightly curdy rather than beaten smooth, covered with roughly crushed green pistachios.
A deli tub of sweetened ricotta, still slightly curdy rather than beaten smooth, covered with roughly crushed green pistachios.

Formula

The creamQuantities not recorded.
Ricottadrained
Sugarto taste
Pistachioscrushed, over the top

Method

  1. Drain the ricotta. Overnight in a sieve if it is wet, because nothing here will hide the water later.

  2. Beat the sugar through it and taste as you go. It wants to be sweet enough to be a dessert and no sweeter than that.

  3. Chill it. It is better cold and it firms as it sits.

  4. Crush the pistachios roughly, so there are pieces and not powder.

  5. Cover the top just before serving.

Notes

The ricotta in the photograph is still slightly curdy rather than beaten glassy smooth, which is the better choice. Whipped to a paste it reads as frosting.

Pistachios go on at the last moment. They soften against the cream within the hour and the whole point of them is the crack.

Crushed, not ground. The photograph shows pieces with flat cut faces and skins still on them, which is where the colour comes from.