⅓cup + 2 Tablespoonsroasted, salted pistachios, shelled and ground-up
⅓cup + 2 Tablespoonsmini chocolate chips
2teaspoonsvanilla, divided
Orange zest
Prevent your screen from going dark
Instructions
TO MAKE THE SHELLS:
Put the flour, sugar, salt, and instant coffee into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse a few times until well combined.
Add the melted butter, Marsala wine, and the lightly beaten egg; pulse until the mixture comes together to form a dough.
Remove dough from the food processor, wrap loosely in plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes to one hour.
TO ROLL THE DOUGH USING A PASTA MACHINE:
Break off about ⅛th of the dough, sprinkle with flour and put through the pasta roller set on the widest setting, "1."
Put the dough through using the "1" setting 2 more times.
Then continue flattening and thinning the dough by tightening up the pasta rollers. It should be thin enough on "6." Sprinkle with additional flour as needed.
Lay the long, flat piece of dough on a lightly floured surface. And cut as many 3 ½" circles as possible. Then proceed with the frying steps below.
TO ROLL THE DOUGH BY HAND:
Lightly flour your cutting board or smooth counter-top and your rolling pin.
Break off about ⅛th of the dough and roll it out until it is very thin, about 1/16".
Lay the long, flat piece of dough on a lightly floured surface. And cut as many 3 ½" circles as possible. Then proceed with the frying steps below.
TO FRY THE CANNOLI SHELLS:
Heat about 2" to 3" of oil in a medium saucepan to 350ºF. Or use your deep fryer if you have one.
Cover the cannoli tubes with oil.
With your rolling pin, roll each circle to elongate it, so you have an oval.
Hold the oval of dough in your palm, lay the oiled tube on top. Wrap the dough around the tube using a dab of the egg white to seal the dough. Make sure it is sealed well.
Prepare 3 to 4 tubes.
Gently lower 2 of the tubes into the hot oil and fry for about 1 minute, until golden brown.
Remove from the oil. I used a long two-pronged meat fork to lift the tubes out of the oil.
Then CAREFULLY, using paper towels to protect your hands, slide the cannoli shell off the tube. Set the cooked shells onto paper towels to drain and cool.
Repeat with the remaining dough.
FILLING THE CANNOLI SHELLS:
Mix the ricotta cheese with the powdered sugar.
Divide the cheese mixture between 3 small bowls.
To one portion of the ricotta mixture add the candied orange peels and the liqueur.
To the second portion of cheese add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and ⅓ cup of mini chocolate chips.
And add the remaining teaspoon of vanilla and ⅓ cup of ground up pistachios to the 3rd portion of ricotta mixture.
Put each cheese mixture into piping bags or use plastic bags.
Cut off the tip of the piping bag and pipe the mixture into the shells.
To garnish, dip the ends of the pistachio and chocolate chip cannoli into the remaining 2 Tablespoons of pistachios and chocolate chips, respectively.
Sprinkle orange zest on the ends of the orange cannoli.
Serve soon after filling. Buon Appetito!
Notes
Gr8 Do Ahead Tip:
The cannoli shells can be made up to 4 days ahead of time. Once cooled, store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Gr8 Tip to Drain the Ricotta:
Put the ricotta cheese in a cheesecloth lined sieve and drain for at least an hour. This will remove excess moisture and help to keep the cheese from softening the shells too quickly.
Gr8 Buying Tip:
None of my local kitchen stores had the cannoli tubes in stock, so I ordered them from Amazon...they arrived quickly!