AUNT DEDDA’S RICOTTA TART – Recipe by Piero Benigni – This pie with his filling of ricotta and custard is really tasty, delicate and truly fragrant. It can be easily prepared in a little more than one hour and requires no particular skill. Try it, you’ll be surprised by the result.
Ingredients for the custard
- 220 mlmilk (8 oz)
- 40 gsugar (1 1/2 oz or 2 heaping spoons)
- 10 gcornstarch (1/3 oz)
- 1egg
- 1/2orange peel
Ingredients for the tart
- 1 sheetshortcrust pastry
- 250 gricotta cheese (9 oz)
- 1 spoonorange juice (or orange liquor)
- 1/2orange peel (grated)
- sugar (powdered, at taste)
Tools for the custard
- Cooker
- Saucepan
- Pot
- Knife
- Rubber spatula or wooden spoon
- Scale
Tools for the Aunt Dedda’s ricotta tart
- Oven
- Pan for tart 9″ diameter
- Board
- Knife
- Bowl
- Napkin
- Rubber spatula or wooden spoon
- Grater
- Grill
that ricotta normally have, last prepare the base of the tart. Use a 9″ tart pan, if possible with removable bottom.
Preparing the custard
Peel half of the orange but avoid the white skin below because it is bitter. Put milk and orange peel in the pot over a low flame. In the saucepan cold-mix eggs and sugar, then add cornstarch. Add 3-4 tablespoons of nearby warm milk and stir well until you have a smooth mix without any lumps. When milk is near-to-a boil pour little by little in the sauce pan while stirring.
Put saucepan over a low-to-medium flame. Stir slowly and never stopping always in the same direction. After 3-4 minutes the custard will thicken. When it starts bubbling it’s done. Turn off flame and let cool.
Getting the whey out from ricotta
Put the ricotta in a napkin or a clean cloth, pull the flaps up, form a ball then twist and squeeze firmly. The whey will come out by crossing the fabric texture.
Preparing Aunt Dedda’s ricotta tart
Spray the pan with a non-stick spray or butter and flour it. Unroll the pie crust sheet and put on the pan. Gently push it down to the bottom and pierce with a fork as shown in the photo.
Put ricotta and cold custard in a bowl. Grate the remaining orange peel then add 1 tablespoon of orange juice or liquor. Mix well.
Evenly spread the mix in the pan with the spatula or the bottom of a tablespoon kept wet with water. Cut the excess pastry by pushing it against the edge.
Cut the remaining pastry (or knead it then roll out) and derive the cross stripes for the tart surface. Push ends to the border dough for joining.
Put the pan in pre-heated oven at 340-350 °F (170-180 °C), heat above and below, not fan assisted, position between the bottom and halfway up. Cook for 30 minutes then move pan one position up (that is halfway up) and switch to fan assistance. Continue cooking until the surface is light-brown and some slights burns appear. Remove from oven, let cool 3 minutes then put tart on a grill to drop some of the contained water.
The tart is at his best after some hours and will last 2 days in the fridge. I suggest not to freeze it. Serve with a little powdered sugar on top. The ricotta in the pie always retains some moisture which over time passes to the surface and absorbs the powdered sugar, so put it only some minutes before serving.