Sfogliatelle. A sfogliatella (Italian pronunciation: [sfoʎʎaˈtɛlla], plural: sfogliatelle), sometimes called a lobster tail in English, is a shell-shaped filled Italian pastry native to Campania. Sfogliatella means "small, thin leaf/layer", as the pastry's texture resembles stacked leaves. The two kinds of sfogliatelle in Campania are sfogliatella riccia and sfogliatella frolla while the one outside Italy is called aragosta or lobster tail.

First off is the Sfogliatelle Riccia. Salvatore Elefante's traditional sfogliatelle recipe has the characteristic many-layered seashell shape and rich semolina and ricotta filling you'd expect of this classic Neapolitan pastry. These Italian pastries are often known as 'lobster tails' in reference to their shape, and require a little effort to roll and wrap the pastry into the beautifully thin and crisp layers. You can cook Sfogliatelle using 9 ingredients and 9 steps. Here is how you achieve that.

Ingredients of Sfogliatelle

It's 1 lb of Frozen puff pastry dough (use only 1 of the 2 sheets for a dozen; both sheets for 24)..
It's 1/4 cup of Shortening, melted.
It's 1 cup of Milk.
Prepare 1/4 cup of Semolina flour.
Prepare 1 cup of Ricotta cheese.
You need 1/3 cup of Sugar.
Prepare 1 tsp of Cinnamon.
You need 1 of Egg, whisked.
You need 1 of Powdered sugar, for dusting.

Get Sfogliatella Recipe from Food Network. Sfogliatelle Ricce is an iconic Italian pastry originated in Napoli, Campagnia region. Super thin layers of crunchy dough filled with delicious orange and cinnamon flavored ricotta cream. The word Sfogliatelle is pronounced as [sfoo-llia-te-lle] in its plural form.

Sfogliatelle step by step

Preheat oven to 425°F..
Place milk in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Slowly add semolina flour, stirring constantly. Simmer and stir for about 3 minutes until smooth. Remove from burner, place in a bowl and let cool for five minutes..
To the milk/semolina mixture, add ricotta cheese, sugar, raw egg and cinnamon and mix well. Set aside..
Place defrosted puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface and roll until it's very thin, about 12 x 18" rectangular..
Brush the melted shortening onto the dough and, starting with the short end, roll up the dough like a jelly roll. Cut 1 inch wide pieces. You should get about 12 pieces that resemble pinwheels..
Place a pinwheel into The palm of your hand and press the center down with your thumb and pull up with your fingers to make a funnel with a wide opening on one side..
Fill each sfogliatelle with as much ricotta filling as you can and seal up the opening by pinching it closed. It should be shaped like a seashell. Place on a baking pan covered with parchment paper or lightly greased, one inch apart..
Bake in a 425° oven for about 15 minutes, or until the pastry turns a light golden color..
Remove from oven and let cool for about five minutes. Remove to wire rack and cool completely. Dust them with powdered sugar and they are ready to eat. Buon appetito!.

One single pastry is called "sfogliatella". After thawing, the canolis and sfogliatelle were absolutely delicious. She was overwhelmed with this particular gift! We have taken this old time popular Neapolitan favorite, a delicate, "clam" shaped multilayer crispy shell filled with moist ricotta cheese and finely diced fruit (orange & citron). Powder sugar is dusted lightly on top once they are pulled out, hot of the oven..