Sfogliatella Riccia

Ingredients

• 500g strong white bread flour
• 190ml water
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 220g lard, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 500ml water, for the filling
• 160g fine semolina
• 350g whole milk ricotta, drained
• 200g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 80g candied orange peel, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp orange blossom water
• Pinch of salt
• Icing sugar, to finish

Before you cook

• Drain the ricotta in a sieve set over a bowl in the fridge overnight.
• Finely chop the candied orange peel.
• Leave the lard at room temperature until it is soft enough to spread like butter.

Steps

1. Put the flour, water, honey and salt in a bowl and mix them to a very stiff, shaggy dough.
2. Knead the dough for 10 minutes; it will stay firm and slightly rough, which is right.
3. Wrap the dough and rest it in the fridge for 1 hour.
4. Divide the rested dough into four equal pieces.
5. Roll one piece through a pasta machine, working down the settings until the sheet is almost transparent.
6. Spread the sheet thinly all over with softened lard.
7. Roll the greased sheet up tightly into a log, keeping the tension even from end to end.
8. Roll out the next piece, grease it and wrap it around the same log so it grows.
9. Repeat with the last two pieces until you have one fat cylinder of many layers.
10. Smear the finished roll with a final coat of lard, wrap it tightly and chill it for at least 8 hours or overnight.
11. Bring the 500ml water to the boil in a saucepan with a pinch of salt.
12. Rain in the semolina, whisking hard, and cook it for 4 minutes until it is thick and pulls away from the sides.
13. Scrape the semolina onto a cold plate and leave it to cool completely.
14. Beat the drained ricotta with the sugar until it is perfectly smooth.
15. Beat in the cooled semolina, the egg, the cinnamon, the orange blossom water and the candied peel.
16. Chill the filling for 1 hour.
17. Trim the ends off the chilled dough roll and cut it into discs about 1cm thick.
18. Take one disc and press it from the centre outwards with both thumbs, easing the layers into a thin hollow cone.
19. Fill the cone with two heaped tablespoons of the ricotta cream and pinch the open edge shut.
20. Shape and fill the remaining discs the same way, setting them on lined baking trays.
21. Heat the oven to 200C.
22. Bake the sfogliatelle for 25 minutes, until the ridges are bronzed and audibly crisp.
23. Dust them heavily with icing sugar and eat them while they are still warm.