APPLE AND RICOTTA TART (AUNT DIANA’S OWN) – Recipe by Piero Benigni – This is a good, delicate and easy sweet, ready to conquer all those who happen to enjoy it. The apple dices melt during the long baking and combine their flavor with the other ingredients, giving a unique final taste. It is a perfect dessert and a great all day long snack.
Ingredients for 8 people
- 500 gricotta cheese (18 oz)
- 2golden apples ( about 400 g or 14 oz)
- 70 gsugar (2 1/2 oz)
- 1egg
- 1orange (organic)
- 75 gbiscuits (Petit or Amaretti cookies)
- 1 rollshortcrust pastry
Tools for the Apple and ricotta tart
- Oven
- Chopping Board
- Knife
- Bowl
- Mold (10″ diameter)
- Spoon or rubber spatula
- Scale
- Whip (hand or electric)
Put ricotta in the center of a kitchen cloth, pull up the flaps, make a ball, squeeze and twist strongly: the whey will drain out of the fabric. Insist: the more whey you remove, the better for the tart.
Unroll the shortcrust pastry leaving it attached to the paper, then place it upside down on the pan. Gently pull the paper away and push down the dough. If it overflows out of the border, don’t cut the excess for the moment. Prick the base several times with a fork, then place the crumbled biscuits and spread them evenly.
Clean and cut apples in small dices. Put in the bowl egg, ricotta, sugar and grate the zest of a medium organic orange. Mix well and quickly with a hand or electric whip. There is no need to beat because there will be no leavening. Add the diced apples and mix intimately by hand.
Baking Apple and ricotta tart
Transfer dough into the mold and spread carefully with the bottom of a spoon kept wet with water. Trim any excess dough and roll or fold over the dough. Put in not fan-assisted oven at 170 °C (330-340 °F) with heat above and below, in the position below that of halfway up. Baking depends on oven but will be quite long, about an hour and a half or more, because of the high water content. It is done when a non-sticky crust has formed on top with small brown spots. Do the toothpick test, which must come out dry.
Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes, then gently remove from mold. It is at its best after a few hours, both at room or fridge temperature. Sprinkle with a little icing sugar before serving. If well baked, it keeps well for 2 or 3 days, but like all ricotta cakes the residual moisture will gradually come to the surface and make it wet. I don’t recommend freezing it.