Pizze Fritte Abruzzesi — Fried Dough Pillows

Abruzzo — the fried bread tradition is among the oldest in Italy, predating the spread of the Neapolitan pizza tradition. Pizze fritte abruzzesi are prepared at festivals, at the pig slaughter, and whenever a celebration requires abundant, immediate food.

Pizze fritte (fried dough) in the Abruzzese tradition are not pizza-shaped flatbreads but pillow-shaped, puffy fried doughs made from a simple bread dough (flour, water, yeast, salt), pulled into oval shapes and deep-fried in lard or olive oil until golden and puffed. They are split while hot and filled with prosciutto, salami, cheese, or anchovies — or eaten simply with salt. The tradition of frying bread dough appears across Italy (gnocco fritto in Emilia, panzarotti in Puglia, pizza fritta in Campania), but the Abruzzese version is among the most straightforward — enriched sometimes with a small amount of lard in the dough for tenderness.

Hot from the oil, the pizza fritta blisters and puffs — the exterior is golden and slightly blistered; the interior is soft, hollow, and steamy. Split immediately and filled with prosciutto, the salt and fat of the cured meat melts against the hot dough. It is the most direct pleasure in Italian street food.