It's Mardi Gras (Martedì Grasso)
Let's make a King Cake!
In Italy, Mardi Gras (known as Martedì Grasso) is part of the Carnevale celebrations, and it's a time for indulgent, festive foods before the fasting period of Lent begins.
We have so many more yeast based dough recipes on our blog!
Carnevale is Italy’s biggest festival, celebrated for weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday and Lent, marking a time of indulgence before the 40-day fast before Easter. This vibrant celebration takes place not only in Italy but in many countries around the world, bringing parades, masks, and festive traditions to life!
I remember living in Sicily as a young girl and dressing up for Carnevale. It was the first time I learned about Carnevale traditions. My cousins pulled out their big storage box with all the elaborate dresses, masks and hats. My brother and I dressed up and we paraded around the town with the cousins getting sweet treats everywhere we stopped. My zia Giovanna had a pile of pignolata waiting for us to dive into!
Italians on every corner of Italy do enjoy their fried treats! There are so many different versions and names for them. The point is, they are fried and dipped in powdered sugar. These treats are not meant to be eaten if you’re on a diet. Martedì Grasso is when you enjoy all of the fun!
Just like it is with most holiday foods, traditional Italian Carnevale treats vary by region, but here are some of the most popular foods enjoyed for Mardi Gras in Italy:
Sweet Treats 🍩🍪
Chiacchiere (Frappe, Bugie, Cenci, Crostoli, Galani) – Crispy, fried pastry strips dusted with powdered sugar, known by different names across Italy.
Castagnole – Small, fried dough balls, often filled with cream or ricotta and coated in sugar.
Frittelle di Carnevale – Venetian-style fried doughnuts, sometimes with raisins or custard filling.
Zeppole di San Giuseppe – Fried or baked cream-filled pastries, especially in southern Italy.
Sanguinaccio Dolce – A rich chocolate pudding traditionally made with pig’s blood (modern versions skip the blood).
Nocatole- You should try my Calabrian mother-in-law’s famous nocatole. She whips these up in no time for any big party or even just because someone is coming by. These are essentially Calabrian sweet fritters. Yes, they are fried!
Savory Dishes 🍝🥩
Lasagna di Carnevale – A rich, layered lasagna from Naples, often made with mini meatballs, ricotta, and sausage. You could try my lasagne!! It is rich and it is delicious!
Frittata di Maccheroni – A Neapolitan pasta frittata made with leftover pasta, eggs, and cheese.
Gnocchi di Carnevale – In Venice, Mardi Gras is often called "Giovedì Grasso" (Fat Thursday), and gnocchi is a traditional dish. Yes, they even celebrate the Thursday before Lent! It’s same as Fat Tuesday, meaning they will be indulging on fried treats!
Salsiccia e Friarielli – A classic Neapolitan pairing of sausage and sautéed broccoli rabe.
There are 3 parts to this recipe. You need to make the dough, the filling, and the different icing colors. Once the dough is ready, it’s time to fill it and roll it up into a ring.
Here is an image of a slice of that gorgeous King Cake.
The filling just oozes out. It is sweet and crunchy. The dough is super soft and super forgiving! It is not a complicated dough to make at all and you can use it for other recipes, as well!
There is supposed to be a baby hidden in the cake and whomever gets the slice with the baby has good luck and prosperity, making the person who finds it the "king" or "queen" of the party. It also means if you find the baby, you will be hosting the next Mardi Gras party!
In case you don’t want to get all fussy making a yeast based dough, you could make my King Cake-Bundt Cake version. It is basically a coffee cake and you decorate it with the colored icings. If you have colored sprinkles, you could also decorate with that!
The last time I was walking around Venice, I came across Carnevale masks on almost every corner. You could buy them in Venice all year long. I met a couple recently traveling back from Italy at the airport in Rome. They were just in Venice and Carnevale was about to begin.
They explained to me that that is the perfect time to visit Venice. They elaborated that since everyone is waiting to come for the Carnevale weeks, you should visit that week before. They said they found Venice to be not packed and that it was very nice to walk around and visit everything.
The last time I was in Venice was in a July and we were with our zio Domenico. He goes to Venice pretty often, as he lives 30 minutes away. He took us there to go to lunch and we did a very fast exploration. We ate at Ca D’Oro alla Vedova. It is a trattoria that was established in 1891! The food is very typical Venetian fare. If my zio Domenico goes there, then it has to be worth a trip.
As the day progressed, it was filling up with tourists, and it was getting difficult to move freely.
You have plenty ideas of what to make today! If you would like to stick with a Mardi Gras tradition, you could make my yeast based dough King Cake, or try the Bundt cake version. If you would like to explore Italian sweet treats, you could try out my castagnole, chiacchere, pignolata, or even my nocatole!
So many tasty options to try out! To be honest, my kids prefer the two different King Cakes! They didn’t grow up eating fried treats, so they don’t ever request them. And they always love to help me decorate the colored icings and to maybe find the baby in their slice!
With that said, laissez les bons temps rouler! Let the good times roll!
A presto!! CIAO!!
Lora