“Take the gun. Leave the cannoli”
– Mario Puzo
The flowers are blooming and you’re unsure how to treat yourself…well…I have the perfetto solution for you…I present the magnificent Cannoli! If you’ve visited Sicily before and DID NOT try this dish…mamma mia…it’s like you never visited at all! A crispy golden shell fried in lard is filled with sheep’s ricotta, whilst the ends are sprinkled with chocolate, pistachio and candied fruit. DIVINE!
It’s believed that this dish originated in the city of Caltanissetta (Sicily), however there are two sides to it. The first is during the Arab domination, in which the concubines created this dish when they wanted to impress the prince and thus sweetened ricotta with sugar (quite characteristic of the Moors). The second dictates that after the end of the domination, a recipe was handed down by Muslim women to the Christian nuns who then made the dish as a celebratory dessert for Carnivale. What’s amazing is that it was the women of the middle class that had the influence in making this into a regional dish of Sicily even though men were thought to be the chefs at the time!
Cannoli fried in Lard 
Sicilian Sheep Ricotta
Reflecting Artusi’s importance on regionality, it was tradition to use sheep ricotta found in the local region. Moreover, it was custom to fry the shell in lard to make it extra crispy, but also differentiate their recipe from the Muslim one!
Nutella Cannoli 
Pizza Cannoli
Whooshing back, there have been many changes, such as the substitution of mascarpone for ricotta due to limited availability of the latter in America! Other recreations are Nutella cannoli or the savoury New York pizza cannoli. What a change migration can have!
Put simply, Cannoli is the tube of heaven!
For the Love of Europe 