Traditional Sicilian Iris: the tasty recipe you’ll love

Iris are stuffed and fried desserts typical of Sicilian pastry, in particular they are very famous in Palermo city. They crowd the counters of every deli in the area and resisting their goodness is almost impossible. It is a sort of "small ball" of leavened dough, here stuffed with a cream based on ricotta cheese and sugar, fried in boiling oil and tasted very hot to savor its external fragrance and soft and delicate heart. They have been prepared for the first time in 1901 by a local pastry chef, Antonio Lo Verso, on the occasion of the premiere of "Iris", the opera by Pietro Mascagni, and have since become the sweet street food most loved by tourists and local gourmets. Prepare these delicacies with our recipe, also having fun enriching the filling with chocolate, aromas or dried fruit creams, for an even more delicious result, and serve them at the end of a meal on the occasion of a family lunch, an anniversary or a birthday. It will be love at first taste.

How to make Sicilian iris

Prepare the dough; in a bowl collect flour, sugar and dry brewer’s yeast, mix and add the egg.

Add the soft butter and then pour the milk.

Knead everything until the mixture will be smooth and soft.

Form a ball, cover it with a clean cloth and let the dough rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours, or in any case until the initial volume will be doubled.

Meanwhile, put the ricotta cheese in a colander and let it drain well.

Using a spatula, work the ricotta cheese and sugar until you will have obtained a frothy cream.

Now take the dough and divide it into 12 pieces.

Crush each piece and put a spoonful of cream in the center.

Close it by bringing the flaps back towards the center and forming a ball.

Whisk the eggs and pass the small balls in them.

Drain the small balls and then pass them in breadcrumbs.

Fry the small balls in very hot seed oil at 170 degrees C, until they will be golden brown (12).

Finally drain them, let them dry on absorbent kitchen paper and enjoy the irises very hot.

How to store Iris

It is advisable to fry the iris and enjoy them very hot at the moment. If there is something left, preserve the irises in a special hermetically sealed container for a maximum of 1-2 days and, before consuming them, heat them in the oven for a few minutes.