serves
8-10
prep
20 minutes
cook
20 minutes
difficulty
Mid
serves
8-10
people
preparation
20
minutes
cooking
20
minutes
difficulty
Mid
level
Ingredients
Pastry
- 300 g (2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 50 g (¼ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- ¼ cup icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted, plus extra, for dusting
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 large pinch of pure sea salt
- 125 g butter, chilled, diced
- 2 free-range eggs
- ground cinnamon, for dusting (optional)
Ricotta filling
- 650 g (2¾ cups) fresh ricotta
- 3 free-range egg yolks (or use 2 whole eggs if you want)
- ¼ cup icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted
- 1 large lemon, zest finely grated
Chilling time 1 hour
Instructions
To make the pastry, put the flour, sugar, icing sugar, baking powder, salt and butter into a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Add the eggs, and pulse to combine, then turn the mixture out onto a clean work surface and massage gently into a ball. Pull off one-third of the dough to use as the lid; the remainder will be the base.
Roll into balls, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
To make the ricotta filling, combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4).
Lightly grease a 26 cm loose-based tart (flan) tin, about 3cm deep. Roll out two-thirds of the dough (the large ball) into a circle large enough to line the base and side of the tin, about 5 mm thick. This dough is quite fragile so you need to work quickly - rolling the pastry out between sheets of baking paper is a good idea. If it is a hot day it may be necessary to transfer the pastry in the paper onto a large baking tray and firm it up in the refrigerator before lining the tin.
Gently press the ricotta filling evenly into the base and fold the pastry over the top a little.
Roll out the remaining pastry into a circle large enough to fit the top, then lay it over the filling and pinch the edges together to seal, trimming any excess.
Cook in the oven for 20–30 minutes, or until golden. Allow to cool in the tin before removing and serving at room temperature, dusted with extra icing sugar and the cinnamon, if desired.
Recipe from The Gourmet Farmer Deli Book by Matthew Evans, Nick Haddow and Ross O’Meara, with photographs by Alan Benson. Published by Murdoch Books.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
