RICE AND RICOTTA TART – Recipe by Piero Benigni – This sweet is tasty, delicate and enjoyable all day long. The recipe is my own and can be made with no difficulty in about 2 hours.
Ingredients for 8 people
- 150 garborio rice (5 oz)
- 90 gsugar (3 oz)
- 1 spoonmarmalade (or apricot jam)
- 250 mlmilk (8 1/2 fl oz)
- 1egg
- 250 gricotta cheese (8 oz)
- 1 pinchsalt
- 300 mlwater (10 fl oz)
- 1orange (organic, the grated zest)
- 1 spoonpotato starch (or corn starch)
- icing sugar (at taste)
- 1 rollshortcrust pastry (pie crust in U.S.)
Tools for the rice and ricotta tart
- Oven
- Cooker
- Casserole
- Wooden Spoon or rubber spatula
- Colander
- Scale
- Mold non-stick, 9″ diameter
- Spoon
Preparation
Getting ready
Spread ricotta in a colander, add a pinch of salt and let drain for at least 30 minutes. Next pour 250 ml (8 fl oz) of milk and 300 ml (10 fl oz) of water into the casserole, put over the stove and heat up. Just before it comes to a boil, pour in the rice and start cooking. Adjust flame to a gentle boil, stir often and let the liquid be completely absorbed. It should take about 30 minutes. Taste and check that rice is tender and swollen, otherwise add a little more water and further cook until so. Add sugar, marmalade, grated orange peel and well drained ricotta. Mix well and continue over a medium flame until the mixture is as thick as possible. It should barely drop down from the spoon. Finally turn off flame and let cool.
Baking the rice and ricotta tart
Grease and flour a round 24 cm (9”) baking pan. When rice is cold add the egg and the tablespoon of starch, then mix well. Unroll the shortcrust pastry and place well centered on the pan with baking paper topside. Gently remove paper and push pastry down. Leave the excess and repeatedly prick the base with a fork. Pour the mixture and evenly spread with the underside of a wet spoon.
Trim the pastry excess, derive the strips, fold the rim over the dough. Put in a preheated not fan-assisted oven at 175 °C (340 °F), heat above and below, position below halfway up. Bake about one hour or until colouring of pastry and surface is dry and brown spotted. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes, then remove from mold. It is at its best after some hours and the next day. Sprinkle with a little icing sugar before serving. It keeps well for 2 days, even at room temperature. Can be frozen, with a 3 months shelf life.