Recipe Scagliozzi – Fried Polenta Morsels

[MypinchofItaly]

Scagliozzi or Scagliuozzi are fried polenta morsels, Apulian origin but more than anything else known and associated as one of the most popular Neapolitan street food and strolling through the streets and alleys of the city eating fried polenta morsels usually placed in a cone of paper is a unique experience.

Scagliozzi are prepared in the Friggitorie, little shops that sell fried foods which you can find almost everywhere in Italy.

You can make them easily at home. It is better to use a polenta cooked the day before, but even preparing it at the moment will not diminish their goodness!

Traditionally, polenta is cooked in a large copper pot called callàro in southern Italy and paiolo in northern Italy. Then were made scagliozzi, which promptly took the path of the public oven for cooking as they weren’t fried during that time.

Serves 2-3, Preparation time 5 mins, Cooking time 15-20 mins

• Polenta/ Corn flour about 180-190 g
• Salt, to taste
• Seed oil for deep-frying, to taste
• Breadcrumbs, to taste

Method

If you have a leftover polenta, cut it into slices 1 inch thick and then the classic triangle shape, pass them in a mixture of equal parts of corn flour and/or breadcrumbs and deep-frying them in boiling seed oil.

Tip: Better to fry scagliozzi a few at a time (3 or max 4) in this way the oil will not lower the temperature and you will get a dry and crispy frying.

If you make polenta from scratch by using the instant one, just follow the instructions on the package – it usually takes about 8-10 mins.

Once cooked, place a sheet of baking paper on a work surface.

Pour the hot polenta on top and form a rectangle 1 inch thick. Let it cool completely before cutting it into triangles and fry it exactly as indicated above.