For the dough
400 grams (about 14 ounces) white flour "00"
100 grams (about 3 1/2 ounces) butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 lemon
salt

For the filling
300 grams (about 10 1/2 ounces) ricotta cheese
100 grams (about 3 1/2 ounces) Provolone, diced
100 grams (about 3 1/2 ounces) "prosciutto crudo," diced
1 spring of parsley, finely chopped
2 eggs, beaten
Salt
Pepper

Peanut oil for frying

o Prepare the dough and squeeze the lemon juice filtered by a sieve. Put flour on pastry board. Combine eggs, butter pieces, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Work the ingredients with your fingers until you have a smooth and elastic dough. Form a ball, put in a bowl and cover it with a clean cloth. Let rest for 30 minutes.

o Chop the parsley; dice the ham and provolone.

o Mash the ricotta, using a fork.

o Add eggs, provolone and ham to the ricotta.

o Season with parsley, salt and pepper.

o Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to the thickness of a few millimeters.

o Using a pastry cutter especially made for this style of fritter, cut out rounds. Add filling. Seal.

o Heat oil in a deep pan and fry a few at a time till golden brown.

o Remove and place on absorbent paper.

o Serve warm as a antipasto, accompanied with fresh greens.

A visitor to the site, Maria Rosa, noticed this regional Molisani recipe on a number of Italian cooking sites, including www.donnamoderna.com. The original source for this recipe was given as:: "La cucina regionale Italiana del 2008...." If this recipe is any indication, it seems that modern-day Molisani home cooks have changed the way they do their "traditional" fritters. In the past they used lard rather than butter to make their pastry dough, and they fried their pastries in olive oil, not peanut oil. Nothing stays the same forever. Photo: Mary Melfi.

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