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Sfogliatellle

This is kind of like a laminated dough, but much firmer than usual. A bit like croissants, but much crunchier. I would set aside a night and a day to make these. It's a long process. Buckle up!
I used citron or cedra zest as I'd brought some back from Sicily. But lemon/orange is fine.
Course: Afternoon Tea, Dessert, Elevenses
Cuisine: Italian, Neopolitan
Keyword: sfogliatelle
Servings: 12

Equipment

  • pasta machine
  • tea strainer for the icing sugar

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 350 g 00 flour
  • big pinch salt
  • 175 g butter (salted or unsalted it's up to you)

For the rolled out dough:

  • 150 g butter, room temperature, or more traditionally, lard

For the filling:

  • 400 ml whole milk
  • 150 g caster sugar
  • 175 g fine semolina
  • big pinch salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 400 g ricotta (if very liquid, drain it)
  • 1 tbsp vanilla paste
  • zest 1 orange
  • zest 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon, ground
  • 1 tbsp cardamom, ground
  • 100 g candied orange peel (optional)

To decorate:

  • 50 g icing sugar

Instructions

  • First mix all the dough ingredients together. Knead by hand on a clean counter until dough is well mixed. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for a couple of hours.
  • Get out your pasta machine. Prepare a long table with silpats. Or use a rolling pin to roll the dough around loosely. The sections of dough will be very long.
  • Cut the refrigerated dough into quarters. Using the first quarter, roll it through the widest setting.
  • Then gradually run it through the machine, until you reach at least number 5 or 6 on the machine. You should easily see your fingers through the pasta. The thinner the better, for the final result.
  • Unrolling it, or laying it out on the table, pull the dough sides apart gently with your fingers so that it's wider. This is scary but it shouldn't break.
  • Smear the butter or lard all over the dough, right up to the sides. This grease keeps the layers separate when you finally roll it up into a big sausage.
  • Repeat this process with the other quarters. Use two quarters to make a sausage. You will end up with two large rolled up logs of dough. Wrap them in cling film and chill overnight again.

Make the filling:

  • In a medium saucepan, add the milk and sugar and pinch of salt. Heat until dissolved.
  • Add the semolina, stirring until the mixture thickens and the semolina is soft.
  • Set aside, letting it cool. Then add the rest of the ingredients, beating them in until you have a thick paste for stuffing the sfogliatelle. Don't stint on flavouring up the ricotta. Otherwise it's really bland.

To assemble:

  • Argh, this is the hardest bit, believe it or not. Prepare a baking tray or two with kitchen paper or a silpat.
  • Preheat the oven to 180C
  • Slice the logs of dough into slices, crossways, of about 1 cm.
  • Then using your fingers, gently manipulate the dough disks into a funnel-like cone. Don't worry! You might want to do this in two stages: one to make a flattish disk with a raised ridge around the outer circumference
  • Secondly, to make the dough into a cone. The idea is that the butter or lard makes the doughy layers slip into the desired shape.
  • Once you have a cone, stuff with a generous tablespoon of ricotta mixture. Then close each one by pressing the end together with your fingers.
  • Continue until you have all of the pastries laid out, nicely closed, on your baking trays.
  • Brush with melted butter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven, let cool slightly then dust with icing sugar. Your sfogliatelle should be crisp and shell-like.