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Italian Pastry - Sfogliatella

 
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Indiana, USA
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 3:34 pm    Post subject: Italian Pastry - Sfogliatella Reply with quote

Is there anyone here who heard of this Italian pastry? I sure would love to find a recipe. I don't know what you would call it in English. It's a very light layered dough with a cheese filling. It also calls for candied orange peel bits.. Thanks
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Smillie - OzFire



Joined: 26 Sep 2005
Posts: 24
Location: South Australia

PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 3:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

SFOGLIATELLA RICCIA

1 cup water
1/2 cup ricotta
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup semolina
1 cup, 2 oz. flour
6 oz. butter
2 oz. strutto
1 pinch cinnamon
3 oz. candied orange peel, diced
1 egg yolk

Bring the water to a boil, add a pinch of salt and pour in the semolina, stirring so as not to form lumps. Cook, stirring for about 8 mins., stirring constantly. Let cool.

Make a fontana with the flour. Put half of the butter, a pinch of salt and as much water as necessary to knead the dough to a smooth and elastic consistency. Wrap the dough in a towel and let rest for an hour.

Sift the ricotta; mix with the semolina, 6 tbs. sugar, a pinch of cinnamon and the candied peel.

Roll out the pastry with a rolling pin to obtain a 25x18-in. rectangle, 1/16-in. thick. Cut the pastry vertically into 4 strips and place one on top of the other, brushing each one with melted butter.

Let rest for half an hour, and then roll up the stack of dough.

Slice the roll into 10 equal pieces with a very sharp, floured knife. Place the pieces on the pastry board and roll them gently with the rolling pin, first vertically, in an upward direction, and then in a downwards direction, to give them an oval shape.

Turn the ovals over, place a bit of ricotta filling in the middle of each one, brush the edges with egg yolk, then fold the dough over and press to seal. Brush the sfogliatelle with melted strutto and place on a paper greased with butter.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 425ºF for 20 mins. Remove from the oven. Brush with melted butter again, lower the temperature to 350ºF and bake for another 20 mins. Let cool, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and serve.
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Indiana, USA
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 3:37 am    Post subject: Thanks Ray Reply with quote

Thanks Ray....I already have this recipe, which I found on a Google search.....unfortunately when I made this it wasn't like the product sold in US Italian bakeries.

Are you a chef? Have you made this yourself. I guess I was wondering if anyone has ever made this and was happy with the process. I'll keep watching. Again, thanks.
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eltonyo



Joined: 02 Nov 2005
Posts: 88
Location: WA

PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 4:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

About the closest I have come is "baklava". (with cheese)

If you want the Italian version, you must visit a Naples coffee shop in Italy, cuz nothing else will be the same.

For some things... there is no universal "translation" of ingredients. This is only one of them, entrusted to a motley crew.

Good luck.
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Smillie - OzFire



Joined: 26 Sep 2005
Posts: 24
Location: South Australia

PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:23 am    Post subject: Re: Thanks Ray Reply with quote

Indiana, USA wrote:
Thanks Ray....I already have this recipe, which I found on a Google search.....unfortunately when I made this it wasn't like the product sold in US Italian bakeries.

Are you a chef? Have you made this yourself. I guess I was wondering if anyone has ever made this and was happy with the process. I'll keep watching. Again, thanks.


Hi Indiana I am a cook, I have run restaurants, but a chef is something else... they thrown knives and temper tantrums... I am as calm as a mill pond. LOL

I asked a friend who is a pastry chef and he sent me that recipe, He said that most bakery shop varieties use commercially available frozen filo pastry, hence a different effect. He claims this recipe is similar in a fashion to what he uses but much simpler. His recipe itself is not user friendly, it assumes you have years of experience making pastry. I think he is guarding his secret. lol

Not my area of expertise at all, I have tried pastry making but I am a better brick layer...
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Indiana, USA
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 5:58 pm    Post subject: Italian Pastry - Sfogliatelle Reply with quote

Ray,
You are a real joy....you made me laugh at your reference to being a better brick layer....somehow I doubt that!
I just got the "Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook" from the library....she has a recipe with pictures of this pastry. It's long and complicated...if anyone is interested, it's on page 381....a really good picture of what it should look like. Anyway, I think I'll just order them....does your friend sell through the mail?
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sugarcookie



Joined: 14 Dec 2005
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 1:19 pm    Post subject: Christmas Recipes Reply with quote

I just found a great new ebook or ecookbook. On a pretty cool website called americas best kitchens. The company seems to have collected thousands of recipes from everywhere and from all types of people. They created cookbooks and cds from them. Kinda cool!

I just found their christmas ecookbook and it has some really nice christmas recipes in it. It downloads right to your computer. It lays out a full christmas menu so I don't have to worry about that this year:). The ecookbook has pictures of the recipes in it and the layout is really pretty. They show a sample on the site and they are donating profits to Toys for Tots. I think that’s nice. It comes with another free cookbook too!

If you want to view it for yourself go to:
http://www.americasbestkitchens.com/purchase/christmas.php
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bobo



Joined: 20 Dec 2005
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 12:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Smillie - OzFire wrote:
Quote:
Make a fontana with the flour.



What is a Fontana, other than a town and a record label?

Are these the famed italian donuts?
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Smillie - OzFire -
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2005 4:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

bobo wrote:
Smillie - OzFire wrote:
Quote:
Make a fontana with the flour.



What is a Fontana, other than a town and a record label?

Are these the famed Italian donuts?


Opps - sorry, shouldn't use jargon - its bad for communication.

A Fontana is a heaped mound of flour with a hollow formed in the middle into which the liquid is pored. It enables you to mix flour on a bench top instead of a bowl, I find it much faster and easier to work.

cheers Ray
Smillie - OzFire
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Smillie - OzFire -
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2005 5:22 am    Post subject: Re: Italian Pastry - Sfogliatelle Reply with quote

Indiana, USA wrote:
Ray,
Anyway, I think I'll just order them....does your friend sell through the mail?


Na! I don't think the mail would work well for pastries from Australia. Postage can take over a month at times.

And I wasn't joking about the brick laying LOL
Pastry making requires cold hands and I don't qualify, even using a large refrigerated granite slab which we could set below freezing, I could spoil pastry. So I use pastry made by others for bet results. Fresh made butter & truffle puff pastry makes for the greatest beef wellington

Ohhh yum
cheers Ray
Smillie - Ozfire
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Leonessa



Joined: 22 Apr 2006
Posts: 11
Location: Europe

PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 12:26 pm    Post subject: sfogliatella Reply with quote

[quote="eltonyo"]About the closest I have come is "baklava". (with cheese)

If you want the Italian version, you must visit a Naples coffee shop in Italy, cuz nothing else will be the same.



Actually this recipe is being used all over Mediterranean Italy. You can get sfogliatella just about everywhere on the coast from Naples up to Nice and though many bars have frozen versions for their breakfast munches you can also find some excellent pastry shops in the area of Genoa etc which give you the real thing.

Having lived in Italy for 30 years sort of gives me a real feel for the culture and I can guarantee you all that if yo have an excellent recipe for ricotta filling (the one posted in the first part of the thread is EXCELLENT) plus use a good fillo dough you can get great results even at home.

PS: the secret is to make them like little cornucopia horns...that means a devilish amount of work turning the pastry round and round the filling...you also only use 1 sheet of fillo for each little cornucopia so that when it comes out of the oven it is crispy and delicious...sprinkle with powdered sugar and if you are feeling particularly decadent add a bit of cinnamon.

They are eaten cool!

Good luck!
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peastacks1@optonline.net
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 3:22 am    Post subject: Sfogiatelle Reply with quote

Hi
My dad owned a famous Italian Pastry shop in Brooklyn, NY for 42 years Alba Pastry Shop (also featured on Food Network). Unfortunetly we sold but we opened in Staten Island, NY (luigi's Dolceria). If you want to try the best Sfogiatelle call Luigi's Dolceria 718-317-8450 or visit our website at www.luigisdolceria.com
we ship around the US. Hope you decide to give us a try.
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febbaj
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:53 am    Post subject: Re: Sfogiatelle Reply with quote

peastacks1@optonline.net wrote:
Hi
My dad owned a famous Italian Pastry shop in Brooklyn, NY for 42 years Alba Pastry Shop (also featured on Food Network). Unfortunetly we sold but we opened in Staten Island, NY (luigi's Dolceria). If you want to try the best Sfogiatelle call Luigi's Dolceria 718-317-8450 or visit our website at www.luigisdolceria.com
we ship around the US. Hope you decide to give us a try.


I have very fond memories of Alba's, probably the best pastry shop anywhere. We used to order a specialty cake called the Kiwanis cake.
Unbelievable. I was devastated when I visited Brooklyn after a long absence, went to Alba's and it was closed. I will have to visit Staten Island.
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EngineeringProfessor



Joined: 07 Sep 2006
Posts: 77

PostPosted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:44 am    Post subject: You can't go home again Reply with quote

eltonyo wrote:
About the closest I have come is "baklava". (with cheese)

If you want the Italian version, you must visit a Naples coffee shop in Italy, cuz nothing else will be the same.

For some things... there is no universal "translation" of ingredients. This is only one of them, entrusted to a motley crew.

Good luck.


I had to jump in here. First, the probability that you will perfectly recreate a scenario that has happened in your past is very low. In fact, if you do recreate it perfectly, most likely your memory reorganized what happened before into your current experience (deja vu). Secondly, if you work hard at it, it will be the same and possibly better. Finally, food presentation is very, very important (unless you are very, very hungry). So, you would indeed be hard pressed to recreate a Naples (you weren't talking Naples Florida were you?) coffee shop and the subsequent ambiance. Besides, who knows if the purveyors of the shop washed their hands or threw out the bug-ridden flour instead of using it--ewwww!

What I am saying is, try, experiment and try again. Eventually you will get it--it's the engineering way.
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