Dishes We Love: Indaco’s zeppole

Photograph by Vicki Artorntamarat

Situated above the Beltline Eastside Trail, Indaco (pronounced “in-DOCK-o”) has one of the city’s most popular patios. On pretty days, it’s filled with friends clinking wine glasses, couples on dates, and plenty of leashed dogs ensuring no crumbs collect dust on the ground. The menu is billed as “elevated Italian,” so even though you can order woodfired pizzas and housemade pastas, you won’t spot a checkered tablecloth. “We don’t want to be a New York red-sauce place,” says executive chef Tyler Haake. “We want to be more modern.”

Case in point: Indaco’s zeppole, which offers a creative spin on the classic Italian dessert. Way more than a mere doughnut hole, it’s made with ricotta cheese, fried to order, tossed in powdered sugar, and served with seasonal accompaniments (spiced anglaise in colder months; currently cannoli cream and chocolate sauce). “Putting ricotta in the zeppole helps give it texture and airiness,” Haake says. “That’s not usually how others prepare this dish.”

The results speak for themselves. “I constantly hear about how light this recipe is and how delicate the dough is,” Haake says. “It’s hard to achieve because we’re frying them to order. If you get the batter too light and airy, the zeppole won’t hold its shape—you’ve got to find that balance.”

As the summer heats up, Haake says he’s considering shifting the dessert’s accompaniments: “It would be nice to highlight peaches—maybe a peach jam with Chantilly cream.”

But no matter what form it takes, the zeppole is not leaving the dessert menu. “It competes with our tiramisu, which is saying something,” Haake says.

Zeppole Recipe (courtesy of Indaco)

Yield: 20-25 zeppole doughnuts

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs

Dry Ingredients

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• Powdered sugar for garnish

Cooking oil for frying (vegetable, canola, peanut, etc.)

Instructions

1. Combine wet ingredients in a bowl.
2. In separate bowl, whisk dry ingredients.
3. Add dry ingredients to wet ricotta mixture and mix until smooth.
4. Scoop out about 1 to 2 tablespoons of the batter and drop into oil.
5. Fry dough balls in hot oil until golden brown.
6. Dust with powdered sugar.