The dough in Tasting Rome’s variation is spiked with a bit of sambuca to deliver a subtle hint of anise, once a common flavor on Roman tables, but you will find versions made with other liquors or citrus zest throughout Rome and indeed all of central Italy. <br /> <br />So-called because their size and shape evokes that of a chestnut (castagna in Italian), these roughly spherical fried balls of dough, easily shaped with a small ice cream scoop or two spoons, are rolled in sugar—like the Roman equivalent of doughnut holes—and sold at bakeries all over town in the days leading up to Lent. <br /> <br />Reprinted with permission from Tasting Rome by Katie Parla and Kristina Gill (Random House, 2016).

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