Sfogliatella Santa Rosa

• 500g plain flour
• 300g ricotta
• 200g semolina
• 250g butter, softened
• 300g candied orange peel
• 250g icing sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• Salt
• Water

1. Place the flour on a flat surface and make a well. Add 150g of the butter, a pinch of salt and a dash of water to the centre of the well. Knead the ingredients, gradually adding water to form a stiff dough. Work the dough with a rolling pin for 30 minutes to make it elastic. Mould it into a ball and cover with cling wrap before setting aside in a cool place (but not the fridge) for an hour.
2. Melt 50g of the butter.
3. Roll the dough out, first with your fists, then with a rolling pin so that it becomes a long and narrow strip. Continue to roll the dough out until it is very thin and long, using a pasta machine, if necessary. Divide the pastry into four pieces, making sure that they are perfectly even.
4. Take the first piece of pastry and brush it with the melted butter. Place the second piece of pastry on top of the first and paint with butter. Repeat this process with the remaining pieces. Roll the pastry very tightly lengthwise and wrap it in aluminium foil. Refrigerate for 1 day.
5. Preheat oven to 240˚C and grease a baking tray with butter. Bring a small amount of water to the boil in a saucepan. Pour enough of the water into the semolina to make it a creamy paste. Place the mixture back over the heat and cook it for around 5 minutes or until it thickens. Set aside to cool.
6. Combine the ricotta and sugar in a bowl. Add the semolina cream to the ricotta, along with the vanilla extract, candied peel and one egg. Stir well to combine the ingredients. If the mixture becomes too watery, add some more semolina. Refrigerate.
7. Meanwhile, take the rolled pastry and remove the aluminium foil, then lay it on a pastry board. Use a knife with a long, narrow blade to cut the pastry into 1cm pieces. To roll out each piece proceed as follows: place the rolling pin at the centre of the pastry and roll it out forward and to the left. Return rolling pin to the centre, then roll forward and to the right. The pastry should form the shape of a pouch or shell. Beat the remaining egg in a bowl. Place a spoonful of filling at the centre of each shell, fold it, press the edges and brush with some beaten egg.
8. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to 200˚C and cook for another 20 minutes. When cold, dust with icing sugar and serve.