With wine donuts, I want to take you on a short journey into the flavors of my homeland, Rome. Yes, because these biscuits are part of the Castelli Romani tradition. And are usually served at the end of the meal in the fraschette, typical Roman taverns.
The dough of the wine donuts is similar to that of a shortcrust pastry, but without butter and without eggs . They are often prepared at home, because they have simple and cheap ingredients. Always present in the pantries, and they are: sugar, oil, flour, wine, salt and very little yeast. Some, like me, also add a little bit of aniseed aroma or a pinch of star anise, which gives it an enveloping aromatic note.
In addition to being delicious, these wine biscuits are also easy and quick to prepare. no molds or long waits for leavening are required. To guarantee us a perfect result, we will only have to pay attention to the consistency of the dough.
As you have already understood, in fact, I propose the home recipe, the one without scales; we will measure all the ingredients with a glass. Except the flour, which we will add in the quantity necessary to obtain a very soft, but not sticky, dough. Then, before baking the donuts, we will pass them in the granulated sugar, which will create a very pleasant crust during cooking.
Don’t worry, preparing them is easier than you think, and the result will be amazing.
Now let’s turn on the oven and take get the recipe !
How to prepare the Castelli Romani wine donuts:
We use the same glasses as the unit of measurement. I use the plastic ones, and I fill them all to the same level with sugar, oil and wine. I then prepare another 4 or 5 glasses with the flour, in order to work more easily.
In a large bowl pour the oil, sugar, red or white wine, yeast, salt, aniseed flavor and mix well with a fork or hand whisk.
We add the sifted flour, a little at a time.
When the dough is difficult to mix with a fork, pour it onto a floured work surface. Let’s work it, adding the flour that serves to give the right consistency.
When the mass is soft and slightly moist, but no longer sticky, we stop adding flour. 4 glasses were enough for me.
Let the covered dough rest for 10 minutes.
After this time, divide the dough in half, form two loaves and cut them into pieces, all more or less of the same size. With each piece of dough, form a small cylinder and close it, to create the donut shape, with the two ends slightly overlapping. Then pass one side of the biscuits in granulated sugar, and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, with the sweetened side facing up.
Let them cook in a preheated oven at 170 ° static mode for about 25 minutes, until they are golden.
Let them cool well before serving.
The wine donuts can be stored for several days tightly closed in a biscuit box.
Chef’s advice:
If we want to serve them at the end of the meal, perhaps with a glass of Romanella, a sweet wine from the Roman castles. Let’s not make them too big, so they will be much more delicious.
Both red and white wine are fine for this recipe, we will have only a slight difference in color in the dough. I personally use sweet red wine.
Did you like the recipe of the Lazio tradition? Also try the Bussolà of Burano , Venetian biscuits rich in flavor.
