Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

(lobstertail) italian pastry

(1 rating)
Recipe by
Melanie Ross
Rumford, ME

When I first made these..."it was not easy at first". Once you know how to make them, then it becomes a breeze.

(1 rating)

Ingredients For (lobstertail) italian pastry

  • 2 c
    all purpose flour
  • 1 c
    semolina flour
  • 2 Tbsp
    sugar
  • 1/8 tsp
    salt
  • 3/4 c
    butter
  • 1/2 c
    water
  • 1/2 c
    lard or better, melted
  • FILLING (BELOW)
  • 1 c
    milk
  • 1/4 c
    semolina flour
  • 1 c
    ricotta cheese
  • 1 lg
    egg, beaten
  • 1/4 c
    sugar
  • 1 Tbsp
    of either candied orange peel or lemon zest
  • 1 Tbsp
    candied fruit of choice
  • pinch
    cinnamon
  • parchment paper, optional
  • SHELL-SHAPED FLAKY RICOTTA PASTRIES
  • 1 c
    water
  • 1/2 c
    ricotta cheese
  • 1 pinch
    salt
  • 1/2 c
    confectioners' sugar
  • 1/2 c
    semolina flour
  • 1 cup, 2oz
    flour
  • 6 oz
    butter
  • 2 oz
    strutto
  • 1 pinch
    cinnamon
  • 3 oz
    candied orange peel, diced
  • 1
    egg yolk

How To Make (lobstertail) italian pastry

  • 1
    (lobstertail) Italian Pastry Combine flours, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well. Add butter, cutting it into the dough until blended. Slowly add water. Knead until firm. Form into a ball, cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
  • 2
    (filling) Place a saucepan over medium heat. Add milk. Bring to a boil and slowly add semolina flour. Stir constantly so as to avoid lumps. Simmer three to four minutes, remove from the heat, pour into a bowl and allow to cool. After five minutes add ricotta (which has been passed through a sieve), egg, sugar, candied fruit, and sugar to semolina. Beat well. Set aside. Remove dough from refrigerator. Divided it into two equal parts. Place on a dusted pastry board and roll with a rolling pin into an 18 inch square. It will become very, very, thin. Brush the thin pastry with butter. Begin at one end and roll it like a jelly roll. Cut the roll into a number of 3-4 inch pieces. Pick up one piece of the dough in your hand. Press your thumb in the center of the pastry and push it down to form a hole like a cup. Fill the cup with 2 tablespoons of filling. Fold the cup until the open edges touch. Gently press the edges together to seal the pastry. Set it in front of you. Gently pull out the sides of the front to form a shell. Brush the top with beaten egg yolk. Repeat above until all pastry and filling are used. Preheat over to 425 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place the shells on the paper and bake for 15 minutes or until brown. Let the pastry cool on the cookie sheet for five minutes. It will harden a bit. Then place on a rack. When ready to serve and completely cool, sprinkle with confectioners sugar.
  • 3
    (Shell-shaped Flaky Ricotta Pastries) 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.

Categories & Tags for (lobstertail) Italian Pastry:

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT