Panzerotti

Panzerotti
Alternative names Panzerotti
Type Savoury pie
Place of origin Italy
Region or state Apulia
Main ingredients Tomato, mozzarella
Cookbook:Panzerotti  Panzerotti

Panzerotti are savory filled pastries, various forms of which are popular in Italy, Canada, and the United States.

Italy

Panzerotti originated in central and southern Italy, especially in Apulia. They are small versions of the calzone or closed pizza, but produced with a softer dough. The most common fillings are tomato and mozzarella, but spinach, mushrooms, baby corn, and ham are often used. Another filling is onions stir fried in olive oil and seasoned with salted anchovies and capers, a seasoning that, mixed with bread, is also used in Apulia for stuffed bell peppers.

In the city of Molfetta located in the Bari province of the Puglia region, frittelle (sometimes spelt frittelli) is used as another name for panzerotti.[1][2][3]

The word pansoti, used in Genoa for a type of stuffed pasta, is totally unrelated.

North America

In America the word has come to be spelled panzarotti, and is regarded as singular (with the plural being panzarotties or panzarotti). They can come in various sizes from 4 to 12 inches (10 to 30 cm), and are most commonly semicircular. They were imported during the flow of immigrants coming from Southern Italy starting from the 19th century.

It consists of a pocket of dough filled with varying amounts of melted mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, and any reasonable number of fillings, which is then wrapped, salted, and deep-fried. The panzarotti rises during this process, creating a pocket containing a considerable amount of steam which should be partially released prior to eating.

United States

Panzarottis are available in much if not most of the United States, but they are widely considered to be a specialty of South Jersey, according to residents of South Jersey.

Canada

Since the mid-1960s, panzarottis have been a popular fast food item in Canada where the singular form is often panzerotti. Commercialized frozen versions are called Pizza Pockets or Pizza Pops.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Quindici OnLine - L'informazione a Molfetta - Tradizioni molfettesi: Tra le frittelle di San Martino e il ricordo di un lettore di Quindici". Quindici-molfetta.it. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  2. ↑ "Degustazione di frittelle al Centro polivalente per disabili". MolfettaLive.it. 2006-10-27. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  3. ↑ Česky. "Molfetta - Wikipedia" (in Italian). It.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 2013-05-15.