Chocolate Sfogliatelle - My Not so Italian Sfogliatelle...

My family missed the sfogliatelles so I decided to make a new batch, it is a lot of work but then, I thought, how about chocolate fillings?

This is the way how I adapted the original Italian version and made this modified version with modified fillings:

Ingredients

Dough
500g plain flour
50g sugar
1 tsp salt
80g water
80g milk
1 egg

Filling
75g thickened cream
75g milk
60g brown sugar
50g semolina
150g Ricotta
3 egg yolks
100g Lindt’s 70% dark chocolate
50g candied orange peel, grounded
½ tsp cinnamon powder

Preparation

Dough:
Place all ingredients into the bowl of a mixer and combine with a dough hook until a firm dough has formed.
Remove from the bowl and wrap in cling wrap. Leave to rest for about 3 hours.
Using a pasta machine, roll out dough.
To do this, cut the dough into pieces the same size of a slice of bread.
Pass each piece through the pasta machine on number 1. Fold the dough into itself giving it three layers. Continue doing this until the dough becomes smooth. This should take about 4 folds through the machine.
On the final fold, pass the dough through gradually, while making the dough thinner by increasing the numbers on the dial finishing at number 1.
Leave the dough to rest on a bench with a think layer of olive oil spread over it.
Continue with the remainder of the dough.
Once you have all sheets rolled out and covered in lard, start to assemble the roll.
Start by rolling up one sheet of dough as you would a cigar. Roll the next sheet around the first and so on until you have formed a thick roll.
Wrap in cling wrap and place in the fridge for a minimum of 1hr.
Remove from the fridge and cut the roll in 1cm thick disks.
Cover the outside of the disk with a little olive oil.

Filling:
In a large saucepan bring to boil the cream and milk.
As the liquid starts boiling add the semolina and sugar and stir, Continue cooking until the filling thickens, break up Lindts chocolate pieces and add in to melt. Remove from the heat, add the egg yolks and mix well.
Add ricotta and orange peel and mix for a further 3 minutes.

To fill the sfogliatelle :

Spread the sfogliatelle gently, pushing out the centre and using your fingertips to gently separate the layers, creating a shell shape. Scoop the filling into the centre. Fill the shell to the top and fold over to close.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180’c for 25-30 minutes. Dusted with icing sugar, voila!