The basics of Sicilian cuisine: “la pastella” aka batter

Published by thesiciliancuisineblog at aprile 30, 2015

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Have you ever heard about cheese or veggies fried in “pastella”? One of the most basic preparation in our cuisine is the batter, that we call “pastella”.
Ready in five minutes, crunchy outside and soft inside is perfect for frying our lovely local cheese or a mix of vegetables if you want to organize a dinner party and want to offer a real treat to your guests.

Here are the ingredients and the preparation for 4 people:

4 tablespoons of flour 00 – water – the hint of bicarbonate – few drops of lemon juice – a pinch of salt

1. In a bowl place all the flour and start adding cold water little by little whisking properly with a fork, trying to eliminate all the lumps. It’s difficult to say how much water you have to use, because it really depends on the flour. You have to look at it and and as soon as the texture and consistency is right you just stop adding it. It has to be a dense, homogeneous and quite elastic batter.
2. Once you are happy with that, add the bicarbonate and squeeze some lemon juice drops on top of it. Mix it again with the fork and finally add the pinch of salt.

Your pastella is now ready to be fried with whatever you love the most. Enjoy!