Sicilian Ricotta-Filled Pastries

Cannoli probably developed from an Arab pastry, as is the case with many other Sicilian dishes. Usually fried in lard in Sicily, they were originally a Carnival pastry, though nowadays they are available throughout the year.

Pastry shops here in the United States use a special kind of ricotta for the filling, called ricotta impastata, a very smooth, dry-textured ricotta made by pureeing well-drained ricotta with very dry whey cheese. In Sicily, the ricotta commonly available is dry-