So Much More than a Ricotta Pie
Crostata di Ricotta
I found the original recipe, for this dessert, in The Cooking of Italy. I have made a few changes, but essentially this is a recipe from ancient Rome. It is labor intensive, but worth the effort.
You will need a large spring-form pan, to bake this pie. It is similar to a cheese cake, in how it looks and is served but the taste is vastly different. It really is not very sweet, but very rich, with the taste improving the second and third day. Keep the left over pie in the refrigerator.
Ingredients:
Crust
2 cups of Flour
12 tablespoons of Butter
4 Egg Yokes – at room temperature
¼ cup of Sugar
3 tablespoons of dry Marsala – Italian fortified wine – you could use Sherry or a Lemon or Orange Extract
1 teaspoon of freshly grated Lemon zest
½ teaspoon of Salt
Filling
5 cups of Ricotta cheese
¾ cup of Sugar
1 tablespoon of Flour
½ teaspoon of Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon of Orange Extract – optional, but highly recommended
2 Teaspoon freshly grated Orange zest
4 Egg Yokes – at room temperature
¼ – ½ cup of White raisins
2-4 tablespoon candied Orange Peel
2-4 tablespoon candied Citron
¼ cup of Pine Nuts
Egg Wash – 1 Egg White mixed with 1 tablespoon of Water
Directions:
If there is water, on the top of the cheese, drain it in a sieve, while you make the dough.
If you have a mixer, with a dough paddle, add all crust ingredients, and mix, until just combined. Do not over work the dough. If you do not have a mixer, in a large bowl, gently combine the ingredients, using the tips of your fingers. When you start, make sure your butter is at room temperature, so that it is easily handled, but you do not want melted butter. Reserve ¼ of the dough, lightly dust it with flour, and then store it in some wax paper, to finish off the pie; roll the rest, of the dough out, large enough to fit a spring form pan, dust the rolling pin, board, and dough with flour, as needed. As this is a rather rustic recipe, in my opinion, what is most important is that the bottom, of the pan, be covered well. I bring the dough up the sides, but am not overly concerned that it be perfect. With a fork, prick the bottom and sides of the dough.
In a large bowl, combine cheese with eggs, sugar, flour, and salt, stir well, and add the vanilla, zest, orange essence, peel, citron, and raisins – mix well, and pour into pie shell, spreading evenly. Sprinkle the top with pine nuts.
Roll out the rest of the crust, and using a pastry wheel, pizza cutter, or sharp knife, cut long strips of dough. You will then lay the strips, on top of the pie, creating a lattice effect; or you may use cookie cutters, to cut the dough into some other shapes, to place a top the filling. Brush the top with the egg wash, which will create a beautiful color. Do not worry if the weave is not perfect, once the pie is baked, you will not be able to tell, where there were breaks. Bake, on a cookie sheet, in a 350 degree oven for about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. Check it at the hour, the crust should be golden brown, and filling firm. You do not want to over cook the pie, as it will become dry, it will also become firmer as it cools. To cool, place it on a wire rack, and let it cool completely. Then, release the spring form hinge, and place the cake, still on the bottom of the spring form pan, onto a serving platter.
I serve this with fresh fruit or fruit compote, and of course coffee!
Fig Compote
In the last few years, I find that I have added fruit compote to my repertoire, in general, with both sweet and savory dishes; I tend to be using more fruit.
Ingredients:
6-8 Fresh Figs or one bag of Frozen Whole Figs (I bought mine at Trader Joe’s – they were excellent)
1 ½ cups of Water
½ cup of Sugar
½ teaspoon of Cardamom
1-2 teaspoon of Orange Extract, depending on personal taste
Directions:
In a small sauce pan, starting at high heat, add water and sugar, and bring to a boil, then down to a simmer. Add cardamom, orange extract, and one fig roughly chopped; simmer for about five to ten minutes, until the mixture thickens to almost syrup, then add the rest of the figs, sliced in half. Coat the figs in the syrup, raise heat for about a minute, and then remove from the stove. You want the figs to have some texture. Serve on the same plate as the pie.
