This is the essential Sicilian sweet – served for breakfast or after dinner. Sweetened ricotta cheese creamed to a perfect silkiness and richness, and lovingly placed inside crunchy, flaky cannoli shells. The ends are dipped in mini chocolate chips or crushed pistachios. These are best to eat right after filling the shells to get that essential balance of creamy and crunchy. I love cannoli with my morning coffee or an espresso. Cannoli are mandatory for our Christmas Eve sweet table. In this recipe I will show you two secrets to perfect cannoli – draining the ricotta and creaming through a fine mesh sieve. Use store-bought cannoli shells to make it easy. Watch the video to see how I do it. Enjoy!
Cannoli with Chocolate Chips and Pistachios
These are the perfect cannoli. Use store-bought cannoli shells; it is so much easier! The secret to fantastic cannoli is in the filling, and I show you two secrets to preserve the silkiness and richness of the ricotta cheese. They take minutes to assemble, and the best part is you must eat them right away! Some variations are to add candied orange peel, lemon zest or even Grand Marnier. My version are the classic with mini chocolate chips and a touch of vanilla.
Servings 1 dozen
Ingredients
- 2 lbs fresh ricotta cheese strained overnight
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- ¼ cup crushed pistachios
- 12 cannoli shells homemade or store-bought
Instructions
- Scrape the drained ricotta cheese trough a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl.
- Fold in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix 3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips.
- Using a pastry bag, or a large zip-lock back with one end snipped off, pipe the ricotta filling into each end of a cannoli shell. Repeat until all shells are filled.
- Dip ends in crushed pistachio nuts or mini- chocolate chips.
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately!
[…] I say, making homemade cannoli is best. You can always follow my recipe and video on how to make them like an authentic Sicilian Grandmother. (Mine are not as […]