Ah, i Sofficini! Also known to the English-speaking world as ‘crispy pancakes’. Although my mother has always tried to keep her no-fuss cooking on the healthier side, this used to be one of the very few exceptions! My all time favourite was the mushroom filling, followed by the ham and cheese ones (whilst I wasn’t particularly fond of the tomato and mozzarella).
Most of the times, when we try and replicate industrially processed food at home the results can be VERY different, although healthier – and more rewarding. But let me tell you one thing, folks: this is the only recipe that will give you 100% more satisfaction than the ‘real’ frozen thing! With the right fillings you will turn a junk food into a gourmet meal. The minute you get rid of that cheap processed cheese and replace it with some nice fresh mozzarella (or as fresh as you could find), your final dish has already earned 1000+ points on the flavour scale!
For our homemade Sofficini we went for a two simple, very Italian fillings:
- Tomato sauce, anchovy fillets, buffalo mozzarella and a basil leave
- Garlic, Porcini Mushrooms, Scamorza and finely diced Prosciutto Crudo
But as they say: the only limit is your creativity (or budget/fridge)… So let’s get cooking!
Homemade Crispy Pancakes (aka Sofficini)
Equipment
- Roller pin
- Round cookie cutter
Ingredients
- 200 ml Milk skimmed or full fat
- 200 grams Plain Flour
- 1 tbsp Salted or unsalted butter
- Fillings of choice Mozzarella, Tomato sauce, ham, mushrooms, cheddar cheese
- 1 Egg
- 1 cup Breadcrumbs
- Oil for frying Sunflower, Olive, Peanut
Instructions
- Prepare your fillings and set aside. If your sauce needs to be cooked (like our crudo ham, Porcini mushrooms and scamorza filling for example), do this in advance as it will need to have cooled down completely before being used in our Sofficini.
- Heat up the milk in a saucepan. Add the butter and, once it gets to a simmer, add the flour in one go. Mix until you get a rough dough. Don't worry if it's a bit dry: you want this dough to be slightly on the drier side rather than sticky.
- Let the dough rest until it's cool enough to be handled, then knead for a few minutes until even.
- Roll the dough with a rolling pin to a thin sheet, no thicker than about 2mm.
- Cut circles using a cookie cutter. These can be as wide as you want your Sofficini to be. With this quantities you will get 10 circles, 10cm diameter each.
- Put some filling (about 1.5 tablespoons) in the centre of the circles, fold and seal. This dough is quite easy to work with and you should be able to seal it with your hands or with the help of a fork. If the dough has dried out a bit too much and you struggle with making it stick together, use some water on the edges before sealing.
- Get your 'Breading station' ready! Wisk one egg with a bit of water or milk. Pour the breadcrumbs onto a plate. Once you are done, dip your 'naked' Sofficini one by one in the egg and then coat with breadcrumbs.
- Heat some frying oil in a pan to 175 degrees Celsius. Once the oil is hot, deep fry your Sofficini in small batches (2 or 3 at the time, depending on the size of your pancakes and pan). Cooking too many at once will take the temperature of the oil down and your Sofficini will soak too much oil and get soggy. Cook until crispy and golden.
- Sofficini can be also cooked in the oven. Just make sure you preheat your oven to 220 degrees static/200 fan and use some parchment on your tray to prevent from sticking. Spray or drizzle them with some good quality olive oil and bake until golden.
