Italian Pizza Fritta Outside on the Grill Plus Video

Italian Traditional Fried Feast Dough

A powdery wonderful Italian treat to make, we can never make enough of them! Just like at those old fashioned Italian feasts, oh yeah, back in Upstate NY all summer long you can enjoy these beauties at the local Catholic Church feasts, but you can also enjoy them in your backyard in a cast iron skillet pan right on your own grill. There's nothing to it!

Here is a recipe, that has been passed down for many generations. Fried dough, pizza fritte, pizza fritta, whatever you want to call this, this dough is one of the finest addictions of all Italian treats! You can never have enough, and once you make it yourself, you will wonder how you lived so long without trying this wonder delicious dough fried with sugar...so simple, but a life long memory and made by most Italians all over the world. Growing up in NY this was one that at every Italian feasts would have people lined up to buy dozens of these and sometimes waited for hours in that line waiting for them to make that fresh batch, while they went so fast... everyone knew it was worth the wait! But boy did it piss me off as they bought them up before I got my turn!

The brown quickly and as soon as one side is puff and the edges are brown just flip them over with tongs, always place these on paper towels to drain the oil.

Italian Pizza Fritte, Fritta
4 1/2 cups of all purpose flour or bread flour
1 pk dry yeast dissolved in 2 cups luke warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoons olive oil

Mix until forms a ball, knead until smooth and elastic, add more flour if dough is sticky , this should not be dry but firm until a ball forms. Rise in a bowl covered with a wet towel, until doubled in size in warm spot, away from draft.... stretch out into circles donut shaped poking a hole in the center, rise on a large cookie sheets lined with wax paper for 1/2 hour, fry in hot oil, check oil by putting a little piece of dough in the pan if it sizzles it ready( you can fry inside or outside on a side burner for the grill in cast iron pan) till browned, see, video at the end. While warm dust with regular or powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, or spread with your choice of jams.


For those in a big hurry and need a quick fix:

Here is an easy way out and quick version that I found at an all you can eat buffet, nope not Italian but easy, quick and no wait, if you don't want to make the dough. When asking the owner what they were, she told me, they fried regular refrigerated biscuit dough in hot oil and put sugar on it, their version of fried dough. The refrigerator biscuit dough fried up quick and actually tasted better than I expected for a quick fix. So, if you are too busy to try dough from scratch give this one a try and there is no comparison to fresh made dough but this is a quick substitution for the real deal!

They normally come 10 in a package and puff up and brown quickly in hot oil, you can use any variety you like or brand, they all come out the same.

You will need to watch these carefully as they will cook fast and burn easily if you don't keep an eye on them

While hot sprinkle with regular or cinnamon sugar.

This is just a quick video of pizza fritta from homemade dough and how it's done, hope this helps you get an idea of how easy this is to make. We cooked this outside on our grill in a heated cast iron skillet, these are so light, crisp and delicious. You can serve with sugar, cinnamon sugarm powdered sugar, butter, peanut butter, jam, or just plain. Fried dough has been a special treat for years in our family and you will find them at Italian Feasts in Upstate NY to be very popular. Always a great treat. Over the years this one has been passed down from generation to generation and is always a favorite with the children