Calcioni

Drain the chickpeas in the colander.

Check No soaking water left on them.

Tip Our guide: throw the soaking water away and rinse them briefly under the tap.

Drain the chickpeas again and set them aside.

Check Well drained, with no water pooling under them.

Tip Our guide: sieve them while still warm (see the filling): they pass through much more easily.

Sift the 300 g of flour onto the pastry board and make a well in the centre.

Check A ring of flour with a hollow in the middle large enough to hold the eggs.

Tip Our guide: separate the third egg first and keep only its white for the dough.

Break the 2 eggs into the well, add the egg white, the 40 g of sugar and the 40 ml of vermouth.

Check Everything in the well, none of it running out over the flour.

Tip Our guide: beat them together lightly with a fork inside the well before you draw in the flour.

Draw in the flour and knead until the dough is firm and even.

Check No dry flour left on the board; a firm, smooth ball, even in colour, that does not stick to your hands.

Tip Our guide: about 8–10 minutes. The dough is meant to be firm: add no water unless it will not come together at all, and then only a few drops.

Press the boiled chickpeas through the sieve into a bowl.

Check A fine, even purée in the bowl and only the skins left in the sieve.

Tip Our guide: press a ladleful at a time with the back of a spoon or a scraper, and scrape the purée off the underside of the sieve as you go.

Crush the 4 cloves and crumble the cinnamon stick. Cut the 20 g of candied citron into small pieces.

Check The cloves and cinnamon reduced to small crumbs, with no large splinters; the citron in small dice.

Tip Our guide: pound the cloves and the broken-up cinnamon together in the mortar until they are coarsely ground; whole splinters of cinnamon are unpleasant to bite on. Dice the citron about 3 mm.

Mix the chickpea purée with the 100 g of cocoa, the crushed cloves, the crumbled cinnamon, the citron and the 80 ml of cognac, carefully, until all is well blended.

Check A smooth, even, dark brown paste with no streaks of cocoa; a spoonful holds its shape.

Tip Our guide: the filling has no sugar and tastes bitter on its own; the honey brushed on after frying sweetens the ravioli.

Roll the dough out with the rolling pin into a sheet that is not too thin.

Check An even sheet about 2 mm thick, with no holes.

Tip Our guide: on a lightly floured board, about 2 mm, roughly 40 cm × 50 cm; thin enough to cook through in the oil, thick enough not to tear over the filling. On a small board, work in two rounds with half the dough each time.

Divide the sheet into two halves.

Check Two sheets of about the same size.

Tip Our guide: cut it straight across with the knife or the wheel.

Spread the filling over one of the two halves in small heaps.

Check Rows of even heaps, evenly spaced, with clear dough all round each one.

Tip Our guide: heaps of about 30 g, a heaped tablespoon, about 6 cm apart from centre to centre and 3 cm in from the edges. The filling makes about 24.

Cover with the other half of the dough and press the dough down round each heap to seal it.

Check Each heap is enclosed on every side, with no air trapped inside and no gap in the seal.

Tip Our guide: lay the top sheet loosely, then press with your fingertips from the top of each heap outwards, pushing the air out before you seal the sides. An open seam lets the filling out into the oil, where it burns and makes the oil spit.

Cut out the ravioli between the heaps with the fluted pastry wheel or the pasta cutter.

Check Separate ravioli of about 6 cm, each with a sealed border of about 1 cm all round.

Tip Our guide: press the cut edges together once more with your fingers. Lay the ravioli on a lightly floured tray, not touching, and cover them with a cloth while the oil heats.

Heat the oil in the deep pan until it reaches the right temperature for frying.

Check The thermometer reads 170 °C, and the oil is not smoking.

Tip Our guide: 170 °C, about 5 cm of oil in a pan 20 cm across and at least 10 cm deep, so it is no more than half full. Hotter browns the outside before the dough is cooked; cooler makes them greasy.

Tip Never leave hot oil unattended. Keep the pan no more than half full and a lid within reach, lower the ravioli in with the slotted spoon, never put water on burning oil, turn the heat off if it smokes, and let the oil cool completely before moving the pan.

Lower the calcioni into the oil a few at a time and fry them until they are evenly golden.

Check Golden all over, the edges included. Break one from the first batch: the pastry is cooked and dry right through, with no pale, doughy layer at the border.

Tip Our guide: 4 or 5 at a time, for 2–3 minutes, turning them once. Keep the oil between 165 °C and 175 °C, and let it come back to 170 °C before the next batch. Too many at once cool the oil and the calcioni turn greasy.

Lift each batch out with the slotted spoon and drain it on the tray lined with kitchen paper.

Check No oil dripping, and the paper under them no longer wet with it.

Tip Our guide: lay them in one layer, not piled up, so they stay crisp. When the last batch is out, turn off the heat under the oil.

Put the 120 g of honey in the small heatproof bowl over the pan of simmering water and let it melt.

Check The honey is runny and drips easily off the brush.

Tip Our guide: the water should only simmer, and the bowl should not touch it; about 5 minutes.

Brush the calcioni with the melted honey.

Check Every calcione glistens with an even coat of honey.

Tip Our guide: brush them while they are still warm, so the honey spreads thinly.

Dust the calcioni with icing sugar through the small sieve, as much as you like, and serve.

Check A light veil of sugar over the honey.

Tip Our guide: the icing sugar is optional; about 20 g dusts the whole batch.