Calzoncelli are traditional Christmas pastries from Southern Italy stuffed with a cream of chestnuts and dark chocolate and fried… Incredibly calorific and incredibly delicious! They tend to be made in batches and fortunately they keep for quite a few days.

You will need (makes 50)

For the pastry…

1kg of plain flour
300g of caster sugar
120g of butter
4 eggs
1 glass of prosecco

For the stuffing…

750g of fresh chestnuts (unpeeled)
20g of bitter cocoa powder
250g of pear conserve
300g of dark chocolate
100g of sugar
50ml pf limoncello

Method:

1. Boil the chestnuts in a pan filled with water for abotu 15 minutes. At the end of this time, add a glug of olive oil (this will soften the skins and make them easier to peel. In the meantime…
2. Mix the ingredients for the pastry and knead until you get a ball of smooth dough. Wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge.
3. Peel the chestnuts and put them in a large mixing bowl. In the meantime, melt the chocolate by bain-marie.
4. Place all of the ingredients for the filling in the blender or food processer and blend until you get a smooth cream. Place to one side.
5. Roll the pastry on a floured surface and using a wide rimmed glass or cup cut the pastry into circles.
6. Using oil (peanut oil or seed oil) fill a deep pan and heat the oil to fry with.
7. In the center of each circle, place a dollop of filling. Fold and twist the pastry over itself to stop the pastries from opening during frying (a few of them may do this anyway – four out of fifty of mine did).
8. Fry 3 or 4 at a time until golden brown and place on a plate with kitchen roll to soak up the excess oil. Leave to drain and cool

You can eat them warm but let them cool a bit first – you don’t want to burn your mouth!

With love, from Italy