Make about 15 (or more) delicious Citrus Cannoli, with sweetened orange ricotta filling, and decorated with chocolate and chopped pistachios!
Place ricotta in a wire mesh strainer over a bowl. Let liquid drain (and discard). Place ricotta in blender. Cover and blend until smooth (can use electric mixer). Put ricotta in a large bowl. Gently FOLD in powdered sugar (un-sifted), vanilla, and orange zest. Continue to fold in, until fully incorporated. Cover bowl; refrigerate ricotta filling until ready to fill cannoli shells.
To make cannoli shell dough, sift flour, salt and sugar into large bowl. Create a "well" in the center. Add slightly beaten egg and cold butter (cut in pieces) to the "well". Stir egg/butter pieces into flour, from the outside in, to incorporate them into flour mixture. Add Marsala wine, one Tablespoonful at a time, stirring only until dough clings together. Use your hands to shape dough into a firm round ball. Wrap dough tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at room temperature for 15 minutes before unwrapping.
Unwrap dough; place it on lightly floured work surface. Roll dough out with rolling pin until about ¼" thick. Use a 3½" round biscuit or cookie cutter to cut out circles of dough. Roll each circle just a bit more into a slightly oval shape. You should have approx. 15-18 dough circles (sometimes more).
Lay metal cannoli tube across middle of the dough circle. Wrap dough around metal tube; seal edges together well, brushing them with lightly beaten egg white, to hold seams together; pinch seam together. This is an important step, to ensure cannoli shells seal properly and hold together when frying. Use fingers to slightly flare edges (on both ends) of dough out a bit before frying.
Heat oil (2" deep) in a large skillet (or electric skillet) until it reaches 350°F. Fry 3-4 cannoli shells at a time for ONE MINUTE, turning as they cook until they become golden in color on all sides. NOTE: If using a smaller skillet, only cook 2-3 at a time so cannoli don't touch while cooking. Use tongs to carefully remove cooked shells from hot oil; transfer to paper towels to drain. Let shells cool for 5-8 seconds, then carefully slide them off (hot) tubes onto paper towels. Re-check oil temp. for each batch to make sure it is at 350°. Repeat cooking process until all dough has been used. Let shells cool completely before decorating and filling. NOTE: If you want to FREEZE some shells for later use, wrap cooled shells carefully; store in freezer in airtight container. When ready to use, thaw and decorate shells; fill with cold ricotta mixture before serving.
To decorate cannoli shells, melt chocolate chips in double boiler (or microwave) until smooth. Lightly dip both ends of shells into melted chocolate; immediately sprinkle chocolate with chopped pistachios. Place shells on a wire rack after decorating; cool at room temp. until chocolate hardens. TIP: I find it helpful to put wax paper, foil, or parchment paper UNDER the wire rack to catch any drips, etc..
Remove cold ricotta filling from refrigerator. Use a pastry bag to pipe filling into cannoli shells (both ends). TIP: No pastry bag? Add ricotta filling to a zip-loc bag. Snip a corner off bottom of bag to pipe it, OR fill shells using a small spoon. NOTE: Citrus cannoli are at their best, eaten the same day they're made. Cannoli shells are crisper that way. Yes, you can refrigerate leftovers, but the shells will soften when filled and refrigerated, so it's not recommended.
NOTE: Caloric calculation was based on 1 cannoli out of a total of 15 cannoli being made. It also includes the optional chocolate and pistachio decorations. If made WITHOUT the chocolate and pistachio, each of the 15 cannoli would have a caloric calculation of approx. 248 calories each.
Citrus Cannoli https://www.thegratefulgirlcooks.com/citrus-cannoli/