Barbagiuan

Ingredients

Dough

• 400 gplain flour
• 1 tspfine salt
• 4 tbspolive oil
• 1egg
• about 150 ml water, or 100 ml water and 50 ml dry white wine

Filling

• 800 gSwiss chard (blettes), leaves stripped from the stalks
• 3 tbspolive oil
• 1leek (150 g), finely sliced
• 1onion (150 g), finely chopped
• 2garlic cloves, chopped
• 250 gricotta, drained
• 60 ggrated hard sheep or cow cheese such as pecorino or parmesan-style
• 100 gcooked rice (from 35 g raw)
• 2eggs, beaten
• 1 tbspchopped parsley
• ¼ tspgrated nutmeg
• Salt and plenty of black pepper

To fry

• 1 litresunflower or light olive oil, for deep-frying

Directions

1. Make the dough: rub the oil into the flour and salt, add the egg and enough water to bring it together, then knead 8–10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap and rest 30 minutes; a rested dough rolls thin without springing back.
2. Wash the chard leaves, blanch them in boiling salted water for 2 minutes, then drain, cool under cold water and squeeze them dry in a cloth, hard, in fistfuls. Chop them fine. Wet chard is the main reason barbagiuans burst in the oil.
3. Sweat the leek, onion and garlic in the olive oil over low heat for 10 minutes until soft and sweet but not coloured.
4. Mix the chopped chard, the softened alliums, the ricotta, grated cheese, cooked rice, beaten eggs, parsley and nutmeg. Season firmly; the filling should taste slightly over-salted before frying.
5. Chill the filling for 20 minutes so it firms up and is easy to portion.
6. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, in two batches, until it is about 1.5 mm thick, thin enough to see the shadow of your hand through it.
7. Place teaspoons of filling in rows 5 cm apart, brush around each with water, lay a second sheet over the top and press down firmly between the mounds to expel every pocket of air.
8. Cut out with a fluted 6 cm cutter or a pastry wheel, and press the edges again with the tines of a fork or crimp them with the fingers. Sealing is everything.
9. Heat the oil to 170°C (350°F). Fry the barbagiuans 6 or 8 at a time for 3–4 minutes, turning, until they are blistered, golden brown and float high in the oil.
10. Drain on a rack and eat warm, in the hand, as an aperitif. They are the national bite of Monaco and are handed round in the street on Fête Nationale and at Sainte Dévote.

Technique

• The name means Uncle John in Monégasque, and the pastry belongs to the same Ligurian-Niçois family as the tourte de blettes; chard, cheese and rice are the constant elements.
• Squeeze the chard until you think you have gone too far, then squeeze again. Every gram of water left in the leaves turns to steam and splits the seal.
• Rolling thin matters more than the filling. A thick wrapper fries doughy and heavy, and the point of a barbagiuan is a crisp, blistered, almost brittle shell.
• They can be baked at 200°C (400°F) for 18 minutes brushed with oil, and often are at home, but the fried version is the one served at the palace and in the old town.

Substitutions

• No Swiss chard: spinach works but is milder and wetter, so squeeze it even harder and add a little extra grated cheese for depth.
• No ricotta: brousse, the fresh sheep cheese of Provence, is the local original; well-drained fresh curd cheese is an acceptable stand-in.
• A splash of white wine or marc in the dough is traditional in some families and makes the pastry blister more.

Variations

• A pumpkin version, with roasted squash in place of some of the chard, appears in autumn.
• Larger barbagiuans the size of a palm are sold as a snack rather than an aperitif bite.
• The Niçois cousin, the tourte de blettes, uses the same filling sweetened with raisins and pine nuts in a sweet pastry.

History

Monaco’s national snack, a fried pastry of chard and ricotta; the name means Uncle John in Monégasque.

Frequently asked questions

What is Barbagiuan?

Barbagiuan is a snack from Monaco: fried pastry stuffed with Swiss chard and ricotta, national bite. Monaco’s national snack, a fried pastry of chard and ricotta; the name means Uncle John in Monégasque.

How long does Barbagiuan take to make?

Barbagiuan takes 1 hr of preparation and 30 min resting, 25 min frying of cooking. The recipe makes about 30 pieces. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Barbagiuan?

Yes, within limits. No Swiss chard: spinach works but is milder and wetter, so squeeze it even harder and add a little extra grated cheese for depth. No ricotta: brousse, the fresh sheep cheese of Provence, is the local original; well-drained fresh curd cheese is an acceptable stand-in. A splash of white wine or marc in the dough is traditional in some families and makes the pastry blister more.

What is the most important thing to get right in Barbagiuan?

Rolling thin matters more than the filling. A thick wrapper fries doughy and heavy, and the point of a barbagiuan is a crisp, blistered, almost brittle shell.