Sfogliatella

There is the riccia, whose pleats open out like a seashell, and the frolla, with its smooth shell. Neapolitan sfogliatella is a pastry in which the same filling can be enjoyed in different doughs. The name is a diminutive of sfogliata, which refers to layered dough or pastries. The name “little layered pastry” is used not only for the riccia, whose surface shows thin flakes, but also for the frolla.

The difference in dough between riccia and frolla

The thin flakes of the riccia come from a structure of thinly stretched dough layered with fat; when baked, the layers separate into fine pleats. The frolla dough is a crumbly short dough containing fat, which breaks as a single crust rather than forming fine flakes. The two names are words that refer not only to the flavor of the filling but also to the technique used for the dough.

In one example of a recipe (the proportions of ingredients and the method of making) that produces thin flakes, the outer dough is coated with fat and rested for 5 hours or more, and after being stretched thin and rolled up, it is refrigerated for another 5 hours. The rolled dough is cut into rounds at least 1 centimeter thick, opened by hand into a hat shape, and filled. In this method, a rested flat strip is rolled up, cut, and pressed open into a three-dimensional shape.

Combining cooked semolina with drained ricotta

For the inside, some versions use ricotta and semolina, combined with candied citrus and aromatic ingredients. The texture of the cooked grain and the flavor of citrus are layered over the softness of the dairy. The filling is prepared separately from the outer crust before the two are combined.

In this recipe, the ricotta is drained for 2 hours or more, and the semolina is cooked in salted boiling water and cooled for 2 hours or more. The semolina is first mixed with the sugar, and then the ricotta, the flavorings, the eggs, and the candied orange are added in that order. Rather than mixing the grain meal directly into the cheese, this process combines the cooked grains after they have cooled.

Scaturchio, a long-established shop in Naples, uses equal amounts of ricotta and semolina in its filling. Because the filling includes grain as well as cheese, it has a density different from cheese creams that use no flour or grain. The maker’s own formulation also shows in how sugar and citrus aromas are combined.

Origin theories and pastries linked to three convents

There are several lines of explanation for its origin. The Naples cultural heritage superintendency, while stating that the origin is uncertain, presents side by side a theory linking it to the Croce di Lucca convent in Naples and a theory about the Santa Rosa convent in Conca dei Marini on the Amalfi Coast. The latter is a story in which Sister Brigida combined leftover semolina with ricotta, sugar, and candied fruit and wrapped it in two sheets of dough made with flour and lard. According to the account, the upper sheet was lifted to resemble the hood of a nun’s habit, and the convent made and sold the pastry as “Santa Rosa.”

The superintendency further notes that the Regina Coeli convent in Naples had the “sfogliatona,” baked large from the same short dough as the frolla. This large form with a crumbly crust is also linked to convent confectionery.

The tradition of Pintauro’s improvement and the spread in Naples

According to the superintendency’s account, in 1818 Pasquale Pintauro of Naples reshaped the Santa Rosa recipe into a seashell form and began selling it in large quantities at his shop on Via Toledo. The pastry reminiscent of a hood is said to have changed into a seashell shape sold one at a time in a shop in town.

In Naples, alongside baba and others, it is a familiar pastry that you can pick out singly at a shop counter and carry with you. Pastry shops offer two kinds: the riccia, whose thin flakes open out, and the rounded frolla. It is eaten at breakfast with coffee or cappuccino as well as a sweet after meals, and people choose between the different crusts while enjoying the shared filling of ricotta and semolina.

In Abruzzo, it wraps grapes and nuts

Despite the similar name and seashell shape, Lama dei Peligni in Abruzzo has a sfogliatella unique to the area. It is also registered on the region’s list of traditional products as “Sfogliatella di Lama,” and materials from a local development agency record that a thin dough is filled with grape and amarena jam, reduced grape must, walnuts, and cacao. The flavor of the filling also differs from that of the Neapolitan version filled with ricotta and semolina. The local development agency’s records also convey an origin story that in the late 19th century, a local woman, Anna Di Guglielmo in Tabassi, recreated the Neapolitan pastry with local ingredients. It is reported that the town still holds an event in which families compete with this pastry.

In Abruzzo, it is also a pastry on which households spend considerable effort at Christmas. In the method of local cook Martina Spadano, a thin dough kneaded with oil and wine is layered with lard and filled with “scrucchiata,” made by cooking Montepulciano grapes. You can taste the stickiness and slight bitterness of a jam made at home by processing the grapes one by one and cooking them. There are also variations from household to household, such as adding amarena, nuts, or cacao.

Stretching the dough thin is easier when two people work together. The rolled dough is chilled and then cut into rounds, stretched out in the directions of a cross, and wrapped around the filling. After cooling completely, the pastries are dusted with powdered sugar and kept in an airtight container or similar to be enjoyed over several days. Unlike the Neapolitan pastries filled with moist cheese or cream, these fruit-filled pastries are made ahead in this way in households at the end of the year.

Santa Rosa, and coda d’aragosta made with choux pastry

Santa Rosa is described as a larger pastry made with cream and amarena jam. The pastry called coda d’aragosta, meaning “lobster tail,” is made by baking choux pastry inside a riccia crust and filling it with cream. The outer flakes are similar, but the filling differs from that of the riccia, which is filled with semolina and ricotta and then baked.

Glossary