In this column we share the cuisine and recipes of Italy and our Italian American communities. Each month we feature recipes curated from our research and those shared by LGI readers.
Food and cooking are important aspects of our cultural identity and sharing recipes is one way for us to connect to our roots and to one another!
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Buon appetito!

Cannoli Sicialiani

dalla cucina di Joanna Lucarino

Beautiful Sicily, the birthplace of my favorite dessert, cannoli. Going back to the first century, during the Arab rule of Sicily, baking was influenced by the introduction of candied fruits, pistachios, and the addition of honey and sugar to pastries.
The name cannolo or cannoli (plural) came from the Latin word for “cane” since they used to form the shells around bamboo canes.
In order for me to find the most authentic and traditional recipe for cannoli, I looked to Piana degli Albanesi, a comune in the city of Palermo, which led me to Extra Bar, a pasticceria that has been family-owned and operated since 1964. Everything is made by hand with the freshest local ingredients. What is notable is their use of sheep’s milk ricotta exclusively. The cannoli are fried in lard, as opposed to oil, allowing for a higher cooking temperature. Red wine and lard lend some sweetness to the dough, and they are the key to the crispy texture of the shell. No cinnamon, no vanilla, no mascarpone, so you really taste the ricotta. Baker Luca Petta shares his family recipe for cannoli with us.

The cannolo shell:

1 kg. (2 ½ lbs.) 00 Flour
60 g. (2 oz.) Sugar 
100 g. (3 ½ oz.) Lard
40 g. (1 ½ oz.) Local honey
150 ml. (5 oz.) Red wine (11% alcohol)

Directions: Forming a “mountain” with the flour on your pastry board, add the wine slowly, then add the honey, the lard, and the sugar. Mix and knead with your hands until all is incorporated. Form a smooth ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

The filling:

500 g. (17.6 oz.) Sheep’s milk ricotta, strain over a bowl in the fridge to remove excess water.
200 g. (7 oz.) Sugar
Mix well and refrigerate until you are ready to fill the shells.

Directions: You will need several cannoli tubes to form the shells. My mother had wooden as well as metal tubes. Either is fine. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and knead by hand, folding the dough repeatedly, then rolling out to around ¼ inch thickness. Using a square cutter, cut the dough and wrap the squares diagonally around the cannoli tubes, brushing the corners with an egg white wash to seal. Fry in the lard at 350 degrees F turning until golden brown and bubbly. The shells will keep 2 to 3 months if kept away from moisture. Remove the filling from the refrigerator and now you may add bits of chocolate to the ricotta. Fill the shells by hand with a thin spatula right before serving to maintain crispness. Once filled, you may decorate with candied fruits, such as cherries and orange peels which were boiled in a sugar-water syrup and dried. You can also dip the ends in chopped pistachio nuts. A final dusting of confectioner’s sugar and then…enjoy! 

My next visit to Sicily I plan on going to many pasticcerie to find MY ultimate favorite cannolo.

Buon appetito!