Panzerotti filled with spicy salami, mozzarella and tomato sauce

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PRESENTATION

Panzerotti aka fried pizza. Panzerotti are like the perfect mix between a calzone and a turnover, but instead of being oven baked, they are fried.

Panzerotti originated in the south of Italy, in the region of Apulia. The name comes from the Italian slang word “panza”, which means belly, because of the puffed-up shape the dough takes when fried. I mean, how can you get wrong combining fried food and pizza?

The most common filling for this recipe is pizza sauce and mozzarella. Make sure for the tomato sauce to be more on the thick side and for the mozzarella to be nicely drained. Any wet liquid is not a friend of the dough in this recipe as it may get too thin and break while frying. The recipe is very easy with very few ingredients and the recipe for the dough can also be used to make pizzas at home. Buon appetito!

Try also the potato calzoni recipe, an unconventional version made with boiled potatoes instead of dough!

INGREDIENTS

For the dough (for 8-10 panzerotti)
Bread Flour 2 ¾ cups (400 g)
Semolina ⅔ cup (100 g)
Water 1 ¼ cup (300 ml) - lukewarm
Brewer's yeast 1 tsp (4 g) - dry
Extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp (28 g)
Fine salt ¾ tbsp (10 g)
Sugar 1 tsp (4 g)
For filling
Tomato sauce 1 cup (200 g) - for pizza
Mozzarella cheese 1 ½ cup (300 g)
Spicy salami ½ cup (150 g) - (or pepperoni)
Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese 1 cup (120 g)
For frying
Vegetable oil to taste - for frying
Preparation

How to prepare Panzerotti filled with spicy salami, mozzarella and tomato sauce

To make the dough combine the flour, dry yeast and sugar in a bowl. Mix with your hands.

In another bowl pour the warm water with salt, extra virgin olive oil and start mixing with your hands.

Then add the flour to the water, mix a little bit at a time and mix until you get an homogeneous and elastic dough.

Transfer to a counter and start kneading the dough until smooth, 3-4 mins max.

Drizzle some olive oil in a clean bowl, transfer the dough inside the bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let rest in a warm area for 2 hours or until the dough has doubled.

Once the dough has risen, move it onto a lightly floured countertop, knead it a little with your hands and form a loaf.

From the loaf you should be able to form 8-10 small balls (around 80 grams each).

Keep on the counter and cover with a kitchen towel for 20 more minutes.

After 20 minutes, roll out the balls of dough, one at a time, with a rolling pin and a little flour, if necessary, until you get a round shape of 1/8 of an inch thick.

Put a tablespoon or so of pizza sauce in the middle of each disk, sprinkle some mozzarella, add 5-6 pieces of cubed spicy salami and grate some Parmigiano Reggiano.

Fold the dough in a half moon shape making sure to seal the edges well with your fingers. Use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut a regular border.

While the frying oil is getting hot keep the panzerotti covered on the counter or move them to a baking tray lined with some parchment paper and cover.

Bring the frying oil at a temperature of 350-375F. Fry the panzerotti until they are golden brown on both sides, it will take about 4 minutes.

Once the panzerotti are cooked to a nice golden brown, drain them on paper towels to remove the excess oil. They are now ready to eat!

How to store

Cooked panzerotti can be stored in the fridge for a few days. To reheat, place them in a preheated oven at 375°F, covered in foil for the first 10 minutes, then uncovered for 5 minutes to make them crispy again.

Advice

As far as the filling, you can treat panzerotti just like pizza and fill them with any ingredient you prefer. It is important though you never put too much or a too wet filling, as a too heavy panzerotto can make the dough break. It is also important to seal the border very well as you don’t want any filling to come out while frying.