Frittelle di Carnevale

The earliest recipe for these appears as early as 1570 in a cookbook penned by the papal cook, Bartolomeo Scappi. He calls them frittelle alla veneziana. They were unfilled, but given the lifestyle of the pontiffs in those days, I’m sure they wouldn’t have objected to a little boozy, creamy filling. After all, vinsanto (a sweet wine made from partially desiccated grapes) means “holy wine” in