 sfogliatelle | |
| Type | Pastry |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Italy |
| Region or state | Campania |
| Main ingredients | Pastry dough |
| Variations | Many types of fillings |
A sfogliatella (Italian: [sfoʎʎaˈtɛlla]; Neapolitan: sfugliatella; pl.: sfogliatelle), sometimes called lobster tail in the US,[1][2] is a shell-shaped filled Italian pastry originating from the Campania region. Sfogliatella means 'small, thin leaf/layer', as the pastry's texture resembles stacked leaves.[citation needed]
The sfogliatella Santa Rosa was created in the monastery of Santa Rosa in Conca dei Marini, in the province of Salerno, Italy, in the 17th century. Pasquale Pintauro, a pastry chef from Naples, acquired the original recipe and began selling the pastries in his shop in 1818.[3]
The dough[4] is stretched out on a large table,[5] or flattened with a pasta maker,[6] then brushed with a fat (butter, lard, shortening, margarine, or a mixture), then rolled into a log (much like a Swiss roll, but with many more layers). Disks are cut from the end, shaped to form pockets,[7] and filled. The pastry is baked[8] until the layers separate, forming the sfogliatella's characteristic ridges.[citation needed]
Recipes for the dough and filling vary. Fillings include orange-flavoured ricotta, almond paste and candied peel of citron.[citation needed]
In Neapolitan cuisine, there are two kinds of the pastry: sfogliatella riccia ('curly'), the standard version, and sfogliatella frolla, a less labour-intensive pastry that uses a shortcrust dough and does not form the sfogliatella's characteristic layers.[citation needed]
A variation named coda d'aragosta (in the United States 'lobster tail')[9] also exists, with the same crust but a sweeter filling: French cream, similar to whipped cream.[citation needed]
