Sfogliatelle Napoletana – Italian puff pastry with ricotta

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 500 g wheat flour type 405 or type 00
• 200 ml water
• 40 g honey
• 2 pinches of salt
• 500 ml milk
• 125 g soft wheat semolina
• 125 g sugar
• 250 g ricotta
• 1 vanilla pod(s), including the pulp or equivalent vanilla paste
• 1 egg(s)
• 1 organic orange(s), zest
• 100 g lard, room temperature or clarified butter, melted
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 12 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 13 hours 20 minutes

For the dough, mix the flour, water, honey, and salt into a smooth dough. It’s best to knead it by hand for about 10 minutes. The dough should resemble pasta or strudel dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest at room temperature for 1 hour. In the meantime, heat the milk and bring the semolina, salt, and vanilla seeds or paste to a boil, then cover and let it cool. Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the ricotta, sugar, egg, and orange zest. Cover and store in the refrigerator overnight to allow to set. Divide the dough into about 5 portions. Run each portion through the pasta machine until you reach the last setting and the dough is rolled out wafer-thin. You need a lot of space for this. It’s best to work on the kitchen table and dust it with flour regularly. Trim the ends of the first thinly rolled out sheet of dough with a sharp knife. Add the cut pieces of dough to the next portion of dough and continue kneading. Brush the dough sheet with lard, put a little lard on your hands and spread it evenly over the dough with the palm of your hand. Then carefully roll it into a log. Roll the next portion of dough just as thinly through the pasta machine. Trim the ends straight with a knife and coat the sheet with lard. Place the first roll of dough on the end of the dough sheet and roll it all up, leaving too much air in between. Continue in this way with all the dough portions until you have a thick log. Rub the outside of the dough sheet with lard and carefully roll it back and forth on the table, stretching it out slightly. Wrap the dough sheet in cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight. Cut the dough sheet into approximately 2 cm thick slices. Rub the slices with lard again on both sides. Using both thumbs, carefully push the dough from the center outwards to make them larger, rotating the slices as you go. The shape will resemble a cone or a small hat. Be careful not to create any holes. Place about 2 teaspoons of the filling into the resulting shell, ensuring it is well filled. Gently press the edges together to seal the pastry case. Place the individual sfogliatelle on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C (fan/convection oven) for about 20 to 30 minutes on the middle rack until golden brown. Dust the cooled sfogliatelle with powdered sugar. Tip: There are some videos online showing how to roll and unroll the sfogliatelle.