Deconstructed Cannoli & Broken Shell Board
Chapter 5 — Desserts & After-Dinner
In Sicily, a cannolo is an exacting work of art, meticulously wrapped around a mold and filled to order so the shell never goes soggy. But in Italian-American enclaves from Arthur Avenue to the North End, we feed armies. When you have a houseful of people recovering from a massive pot of Sunday gravy, nobody wants to stand in the kitchen individually piping twenty shells. Enter the deconstructed cannoli board. We take the exact same iconic flavors—Marsala-blistered dough, sweet ricotta cut with rich mascarpone, cinnamon, and chocolate—and blow them up into a loud, communal sheet-pan masterpiece. You fry shards of dough right in your Dutch oven, pile them high, and let your guests dig in.
Before you start
Drain the ricotta for at least twelve hours.
Line a fine-mesh sieve or the basket of your box grater with two layers of cheesecloth. Set it over a deep bowl, dump in the ricotta, wrap it tightly, and weigh it down with a heavy can in the fridge. This transforms supermarket ricotta into bakery-style ricotta impastata.
Ingredients
- whole milk ricotta32 oz
- mascarpone cheese8 oz
- confectioners' sugar1 1/2 cup
- ground cinnamon1/2 tsp
- vanilla extract1 tsp
- orange zest1 tsp
- mini semi-sweet chocolate chips3/4 cup
- shelled pistachios1/4 cup
- all-purpose flour2 cup
- granulated sugar2 tbsp
- unsweetened cocoa powder1 tbsp
- kosher salt1/2 tsp
- unsalted butter3 tbsp
- dry Marsala wine1/2 cup
- egg1 large
- peanut or canola oil2 qt
Method
- 01
Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, and kosher salt together in a large mixing bowl.
- 02
Run the frozen butter down the large holes of a box grater directly into the flour.
Toss the butter curls into the flour with your fingers until the mixture resembles wet sand. The box grater gives you the flaky pastry structure without melting the fat with the heat of your hands.
- 03
Create a well in the center of the flour, add the Marsala wine and the egg, and gradually whisk until a shaggy dough forms.
Turn the dough out and knead aggressively for five to eight minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap tightly in plastic and let it rest at room temperature for at least an hour to relax the gluten.
- 04
Discard the drained whey from the ricotta, then beat the dry cheese together with the mascarpone until completely smooth and velvety.
Mascarpone is the secret weapon here. It introduces the high butterfat needed to stabilize wet American cow's milk ricotta, yielding a dense cream that won't weep on your board.
- 05
Fold the sifted confectioners' sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, orange zest, and a half-cup of the mini chocolate chips into the cheese mixture.
Cover tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours to let the mascarpone set and the flavors marry.
- 06
Roll half of the rested dough out paper-thin on a lightly floured surface and cut it into rustic, uneven shards.
Do not worry about perfect shapes; you are making a broken board. If the dough is too thick, the chips will be tough instead of shatteringly crisp.
- 07
Heat two inches of oil to 350°F in your Dutch oven and fry the dough shards in batches for one to two minutes per side.
The Marsala alcohol vaporizes instantly in the hot oil, creating those iconic, shatteringly crisp blisters. Transfer the deeply golden chips to a paper towel-lined sheet pan to drain.
- 08
Mound the chilled cannoli cream in the center of a large sheet pan and garnish with the remaining chocolate chips and pistachios.
- 09
Pile the freshly fried cannoli chips around the cream, heavily dust the entire board with confectioners' sugar, and serve immediately.
Notes
This dessert is designed to fit seamlessly into a loud Sunday dinner schedule.
The cream can and should be made up to two days in advance, and the dough can be mixed the day before. Frying takes fifteen minutes in the same Dutch oven you used for the gravy earlier in the day.
From Cook Red Sauce at Home.