Sfogliatella (Italian: [sfoʎʎaˈtɛlla]; Neapolitan: sfugliatella; pl.: sfogliatelle), sometimes also known in the United States as a lobstertail,[1][2] is a shell-shaped pastry with a sweet or creamy filling, originating in the Campania region of Italy. Sfogliatella means 'small, thin leaf/layer', as the pastry's texture resembles stacked leaves.[citation needed]

Sfogliatella
TypePastry
Place of originItaly
Region or stateCampania
Main ingredientsPastry dough
VariationsMany types of fillings

Origin

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Sfogliatelle Santa Rosa

The sfogliatella Santa Rosa was created in the monastery of Santa Rosa in Conca dei Marini, province of Salerno, southern 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]

Production

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The dough is stretched out on a large table or flattened with a pasta maker, 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, and filled. The pastry is baked until the layers separate, forming the sfogliatella's characteristic ridges.[citation needed]

Recipes for the dough and filling vary. Fillings include orange-flavoured ricotta cheese, almond paste, and candied peel of citron.[citation needed]

Regional variations

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In Neapolitan cuisine, there are two types 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.[4]

A variation named coda d'aragosta (in the United States "lobstertail")[5] also exists, with the same crust but a sweeter filling.

See also

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  Media related to Sfogliatelle at Wikimedia Commons

References

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  1. ^ From the Source - Italy: Italy's Most Authentic Recipes From the People That Know Them Best (2015). Lonely Planet.
  2. ^ Bullock-Prado, Gesine (2012). Pie It Forward: Pies, Tarts, Tortes, Galettes, and Other Pastries Reinvented. Open Road Media. p. 198.
  3. ^ "storia della sfogliatella". www.sfogliatella.it.
  4. ^ Romano, R., Aiello, A., De Luca, L., Acunzo, A., Montefusco, I., & Pizzolongo, F. (2021). “Sfogliatella Riccia Napoletana”: Realization of a Lard-Free and Palm Oil-Free Pastry. Foods, 10(6), 1393.
  5. ^ "La Sfogliatella, (Lobstertail)". Mike Mercogliano's Pastry. Archived from the original on 2016-11-01. Retrieved 2016-03-16.