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Daring Bakers: Sfogliatelle Ricci and Lobster Tail Pastries

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Sandie of the lovely blog, Crumbs of Love, was our November Daring Bakers hostess. Sandie challenged us to make a traditional Italian dessert, along with its American version – Sfogliatelle (or better known in the US – lobster tails!) The flakey, 1000 layers of super thin dough, shaped into a horn and filled with a scrumptious filling. Così buono!

Being that this is the month we said goodbye to Lis, the Queen of All Daring Bakers, it is fitting that this month’s challenge was a doozy, something that probably none of us had ever made before and some of us (myself included) had never even heard of. Sfogliatelle? Lobster tails? Turns out we’re not talking about the back end of a crustacean, but a flaky layered pastry stuffed with a delicious filling.

Grilled Pizza: a story in pictures

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We just got a really nice, new-to-us barbeque from Nate’s parents, and today I christened it with grilled pizzas. I’ve done this before with moderate success (minus the charred bits 😉 ). My technique needs refining, but this is the basic idea!

For some reason I made four pizzas for only two of us. I get over-zealous with cooking sometimes. (OK, often.)

First, grill the veg for toppings (everything has been doused in olive oil, salt and pepper). This nifty veggie grilling rack is awesome. Look at those grill marks! I’m so proud.

Grill the tomatoes until they’re nice and soft and bursty – you then sort of smear them on the pizza base to make the “sauce”, but we’ll get to that later.

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Tomato Bisque with Ricotta and Chives

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I am not the biggest fan of raw tomatoes (something about the texture puts me off), but I do like tomato soup quite a bit – there’s nothing like Campbell’s tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich. I had half a can of tinned tomatoes and some ricotta in the fridge that I didn’t know what to do with, so I decided to make some tomato soup and top it with the ricotta. I consulted with my friend Martha and came up with this recipe – actually double what I originally made, because it barely made enough for Nate and me!

I added milk to make it a little bit creamy, but that is totally optional. Use whatever herbs you want – I used thyme while cooking, and garnished it with chives because I noticed that they are just starting to come up in my herb garden. I would still use a hardier herb, such as thyme or oregano, during the cooking, and garnish with something more delicate (or stir it in at the last minute). Nate suggested dill, which would be fantastic in the summer when it is fresh and growing everywhere! And of course, you can’t go wrong with the tomato basil combination 😉 I *LOVE* ricotta, but it could be replaced with sour cream, crème fraîche, or even cream cheese if you’re feeling adventurous.

Because this recipe calls for canned tomatoes, it’s a good idea to use really good quality canned tomatoes, rather than a no-name bargain brand. I used Unico brand, which is decent, but my favorite is an Italian brand. The tomatoes are much riper and the juice they are packed in is much tomato-y-er, and it’s only about 50 cents more than the bargain brand, which is worth it for the taste….

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All content © Korena Vezerian and Korena in the Kitchen, 2011 – 2021. Please contact me before duplicating any content, including pictures. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Korena Vezerian and Korena in the Kitchen with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.