Sfogliatella
Ingredients
- Dough: flour, water, a little sugar and salt, plus lard for laminating
- Filling: milk, semolina, sugar, salt, ricotta, egg, candied orange and citron peel, vanilla, cinnamon
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
Sfogliatella means 'many leaves' or 'layers,' a nod to the hundreds of thin sheets that form its shell. The dough is laminated with lard rather than butter, rolled paper-thin (traditionally through a pasta machine), then coiled and cut into rounds, which are hand-shaped into shells around a filling of semolina cooked with milk, mixed with ricotta, sugar, egg, and candied citrus.
Method
Make a firm dough from flour, water, sugar and salt; rest, then roll it as thin as possible, repeatedly running it through a pasta machine and folding, to build translucent layers.
Spread a thin layer of softened lard over the sheet, then roll it tightly into a long log; chill or freeze until firm.
Cook the semolina in simmering milk with sugar and salt until it thickens into a soft pudding; cool, then mix in ricotta, egg, candied peel, vanilla and cinnamon.
Slice the chilled log into rounds and shape each round by hand into a cone or shell, widening the layers with your thumbs.
Fill each shell generously with the semolina-ricotta filling and pinch to close.
Bake at around 200-220°C (400-425°F) for 20-25 minutes until deep golden and crisp.
Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm.
