TORTA DI PASQUA (EASTER RICOTTA TART)

TORTA DI PASQUA (EASTER RICOTTA TART) image

Yield 1 10-inch tart

Number Of Ingredients 23

Ingredients

Pastry:
Extra-virgin olive oil
1-1/4 cups (6.25 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour (preferably organic)
1/4 cup (1.25 ounces) cake flour (preferable organic)
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
Shredded zest of 1 medium lemon
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 to 5 tablespoons cold water
Filling:
3-1/4 cups (about 30 ounces) high-quality whole-milk ricotta
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 large egg, separated
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup (3.5 ounces) plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon Galliano liqueur
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup (1.5 ounces) mixed candied fruit, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon pine nuts or coarsely chopped blanched almonds

Steps:

Crust: Butter a 10-inch metal pie pan. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. With your fingertips, work in butter until small pea sized. In a small bowl, beat together yolks, lemon juice, and 3 Tbsps water. Add to dry ingredients, tossing with a fork until pastry forms small clumps; another 1-2 Tbsps water may be needed. Shape dough into a ball. On a floured surface, roll pastry to a 15-inch circle, 1/8 inch thick. Fit to pie pan and trim edges to a 1-inch overhang. Roll rim under and flute to a high border standing on the pie pan's rim. Chill 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line pastry shell with foil or parchment, weight with dried beans, and bake 15 mins. Remove liner and weights and bake another 2 mins, or until crust is firm. Cool on a rack. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pass ricotta through a fine sieve into a bowl. Blend in cream, yolks, 1/2 cup of sugar, Galliano, vanilla, and salt. Stir in fruit. Turn ricotta into pastry shell. Tuck chocolate pieces in here and there. In a medium bowl, beat egg white until foamy. Gradually beat in remaining 3 Tbsps sugar and continue to beat meringue to consistency of very thick cream - not quite soft peaks. With a spoon, make a zigzag stripe of meringue thickly over the filling, not covering it completely. Sprinkle nuts over meringue. Make a foil ring and cover pastry rim with it. Place tart in oven and turn heat down to 325°F. Bake 40 mins. Remove foil rim and bake another 15-20 mins, or until a knife inserted an inch from the rim comes out with a few streaks. The filling will jiggle a bit, but will set up in cooling. Remove tart to a rack and cool. Cover and chill the tart 1 hour, but bring to room temperature before serving, cut into narrow wedges. Keeps well, covered, in the refrigerator, 2-3 days, but best the day it's made.