For this ricotta and sour cherry tart recipe I have to thank my friend Ludovica, whom I met at a red prawn pastry making course several years ago. I’ve made it over and over again and it’s always much appreciated and not a crumb is left over. Also here on FoodMeTender dear Ludovica, thank you and thank you again!
It’s a Jewish recipe, so much so that in Rome in the ghetto there is an old lady who sells these tarts that are out of this world… and we hope there will always be these legendary old ladies who carry and pass on tradition and goodness.
It’s a relatively simple preparation, but let’s see step by step how to proceed.
N.B. The quantities you will find below for the pastry are decidedly generous, but you can keep the pastry to make biscuits or tarts, you can also freeze it, it keeps very well.
Ingredients for the pastry:
- 200g of granulated sugar
- 400g of butter (or 200g of butter + 200g of margarine) cut into small pieces
- 600 g of 0 flour (not 00, please)
- 1 egg
- vanilla extracted from the pod (or vanilla flavouring)
- grated lemon zest
- 1 pinch of salt
Ingredients for the filling
- 400 g of cow’s ricotta (if you want also sheep’s ricotta but for me it’s a bit strong)
- 100g of icing sugar
- 1 jar of sour cherry jam (choose high quality jam, it is essential)
Extract the vanilla seeds from the pod, cutting it lengthwise and removing the black seeds with the knife. Grate the zest of an untreated lemon.
Mix all the ingredients for the pastry with the planetary mixer or by hand, making a well with the flour and mixing the other ingredients in the center (eggs, butter, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and salt), kneading quickly with your hands. Form a loaf, wrap it in cling film and leave to rest for 1-2 hours in the fridge.
Butter and flour a 22cm tart pan (even better if you have one with a removable bottom). Divide the dough in half and roll it out with a rolling pin into a sheet of about 1 cm and spread it on the baking tray, trim the edges and prick the bottom all over with the tines of a fork (this will prevent bubbles from forming in the tart).
At this point take the sour cherry jam, mix it well with a spoon and spread it in a uniform and fairly thin layer on the pastry (you don’t have to fill it as you would for a normal tart).
Place the ricotta in a separate bowl, mix it carefully with a spoon to make it soft and homogeneous and add the icing sugar, mix well until you have a nice creamy mixture.
Spread it with a spoon and spatula on the layer of jam, covering the entire bottom well.
At this point, roll out another sheet of shortcrust pastry, like the one before, and cover the tart, edges included. seal well and press lightly with your finger inside the edge to make a slight dimple. Use the leftover shortcrust pastry to decorate your tart (in the photo: I put a string rolled all around and decorated it with stars).
Bake at 150°C for a long time, until the edges are coloured.
Leave to cool on a wire rack and once cold sprinkle with icing sugar.
And now… Happy ricotta and sour cherry tart!!!
p.s. the day after is even better!
