Giovanni Pilus Seadas of Ricotta

Method

1. Sift flour and salt into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. With the machine running, pour in water and mix until it has a stretchy texture, then add the lard and mix in by hand to make a firm, smooth dough. Tip the dough onto a clean, lightly floured workbench and kneed with the heels of your hands for about five minutes, until smooth and elastic. Roll into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

2. Push ricotta through a fine sieve.

3. Using a whisk, beat in the egg yolk, followed by the sugar, then the lemon zest (don’t use a mixer, as this may overwork the mixture, causing the ricotta to split). 

4. Fold through the sultanas.

5. To make the seadas, cut the dough in two pieces and flatten slightly. Pass each piece through a pasta machine on the widest setting, then fold in half and repeat, reducing the setting by a notch each time, until the pastry is about 2mm thick.

6. Lay a sheet of pastry on a clean, lightly floured workbench. With a 10cm round cutter, lightly mark out a row of discs along one side of the pastry; you will need just over half the pastry to fold back over the filling. Place two tablespoons of ricotta mixture in the centre of each disc. Fold over the other half of the pastry to completely cover the filling, pressing gently around each mound of filling to eliminate as much air as possible. Use the 10cm round cutter to cut out the pastry. Place the seadas on a lightly floured tray and repeat with remaining pastry and filling.

7. Heat vegetable oil to 160°C. 

8. Meanwhile, place honey in a small saucepan over low heat and warm without boiling.

9. Lower pastries carefully into hot oil and deep-fry for about four minutes until underside is golden, then turn and fry the other side for about three minutes until golden in colour. Drain on paper towel.

10. Serve drizzled with warm corbezzolo honey.