How to prepare vegan Neapolitan struffoli

Here is a recipe for a typical Neapolitan dessert revisited in a vegan version: struffoli!

The Struffoli they are a typical Neapolitan fried dessert, but they seem to have been invented by the Greeks at the time of Magna Graecia, and in fact the name struffolo derives from the Greek word “strongoulos pristos“that is to say cut ball.

So whether they are with candied fruit or very sweet sugared almonds “Making struffoli is no fun. Cumminciamm from the start”!

Now, for those who want to prepare a version without animal derivatives, it is possible to follow this vegan recipe to make excellent alternative struffoli!

Ingredients for vegan struffoli:

For the dough

• 400g of organic flour
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 25g of non-hydrogenated vegetable margarine
• 1 small glass of anise
• ½ lemon zest, grated
• ½ grated orange zest
• a pinch of salt
• 1 sachet of vanillin

For frying

• olive or seed oil

For Decorating and Seasoning

Preparation of struffoli

We combine and mix all the ingredients well until we obtain a soft dough and let it rest for at least a couple of hours at room temperature, covered with a tea towel. Once the necessary time has passed, we quickly knead again and roll out the dough. Now we form serpentines and cut them into small pieces, placing them on a well-floured surface and sprinkling them further with flour to prevent them from sticking (imitating the procedure for making the gnocchi).

Before frying them we put them in a sieve to remove excess flour. At this point we heat the oil (but not too much) and fry them a little at a time. Once cooked (the struffoli must take on a golden appearance) we take them out of the oil with a slotted ladle and place them on a plate covered with absorbent paper.

Now, to taste, we pour the maple syrup over the struffoli and mix them well. Then sprinkle with the colored sprinkles (be careful which ones you buy, make sure they do not contain artificial colorings or contain animal fats) and the candied fruit, always stirring gently.