FRIED CHEESE PASTRIES WITH HONEY

These are known as seadas in Sardinia and they are amazing, we promise you.

Makes 16-18

For the pastry

500g (1lb 2oz) plain Italian ‘00’ flour or very fine durum wheat semolina, plus extra for dusting ½tsp salt

200ml (7fl oz) warm water

50g (1¾oz) lard or butter

For the filling

300g (10½oz) ricotta cheese, well drained

1 egg yolk

250g (9oz) Pecorino cheese, grated Zest of 1 lemon

Vegetable oil, for deep-frying 200ml (7fl oz) honey, to serve

For the pastry, put the flour into a bowl with the salt. Gradually stir in the water, then add the lard or butter. Don’t worry if the mixture seems very dry at this stage. Wet your hands and knead the dough until it completely comes together, then knead for another 5 minutes until the dough is smooth. Cover the bowl with clingfilm or a damp tea towel and leave to rest for half an hour.

For the filling, put the ricotta in a bowl and mix in the egg yolk until well combined. Stir in the Pecorino and lemon zest, then set aside. Cut the dough into 2 equal pieces and flatten them slightly. Run each piece through a pasta machine on the widest setting, then gradually reduce until the dough is about 2mm thick, or use a rolling pin. Lay each piece on a lightly floured surface and cut 10cm rounds. Put a heaped tablespoon of the mixture in the centre of half the rounds, then dampen the edges. Cover with the remaining rounds and seal the edges together with a fork.

To cook, half fill a deep-fat fryer or large saucepan with vegetable oil and heat it to 160°C. Lower a few pastries into the oil and cook them for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Drain each batch on kitchen paper. Gently warm the honey in a small pan until very runny, then drizzle over the pastries to serve.