Cooking with Giovanna-Ricotta Tart

In a previous blog, from a previous trip to Italy, on a previous day with Giovanna, I wrote about the joy of cooking with Giovanna while we made a zucchini lasagna together. Luckily, I had a second chance to cook with her on my most recent trip. And lucky for you, Giovanna is most gracious to allow me to again share her recipes and the photos of our day together.

Today we are making a Ricotta Tart with a Pasta Frolla Crust. This is a dessert I have specifically asked her to show me how to make. It’s a common and delicious dessert in Italy; nothing too fancy…just something an Italian mom might make for her family for the weekend. I imagine every time anyone passes through the kitchen, they snag a bit to munch on. I would! I love the crispy, buttery crust, the creamy interior, and the little bits of dark chocolate with the tanginess of lemon zest. It’s all such a great combination of flavors and textures. I hope you love it too!

Here’s your list of ingredients:
For the Pasta Frolla crust (makes 2 crusts with enough for decorative trim):

250 grams butter, cold and cut into large chunks
200 grams sugar
500 grams flour
4 egg yolks at room temp
½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the filling (makes enough for two tarts):
1 kilo (just over 2 pounds) of fresh ricotta cheese
250 grams of sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Lemon peel, grated
4 eggs
Chocolate of choice: mini chocolate chips, dark chocolate flakes, chopped chocolate, etc.

Let’s get started with the crust ingredients:

This recipe is really quite simple, and Giovanna has some shortcuts that really help. The Pasta Frolla crust needs at least an hour to chill so take that into account when planning your time. It can also be made a day ahead if that helps your schedule.

1) Put the chunks of butter and sugar into a food processor and process until smooth.

2) Measure the flour onto a clean surface, and make a well in the center. Add the egg yolks to the center of the well.

3) Top the eggs with the sugar/butter mixture from the food processor. Also sprinkle over the baking powder and add the vanilla extract.

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Now it’s time to get our hands dirty! Begin mixing by combining the wet ingredients with the flour from the interior of the well. Keep dragging in more flour. The mixture will become quite crumbly before it comes together into a dough. If it’s simply too dry, you can add another egg. If it’s too moist, add a little more flour. It can all be dependent on the size of your eggs. Ours is just right and before long, Giovanna has a nice dough all kneaded together into a log. She wraps in plastic wrap before putting it in the fridge for an hour.

Since we had time to kill, we went on a wine tour while we were waiting for the dough to chill! But that’s a whole different story for another blog post :)

Time to work on the filling. The filling couldn’t be easier. Simply combine the ricotta cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, lemon peel to taste, and eggs in a food processor and process until smooth. By hand, stir in the mini chocolate chips (as much as you like), and it’s done!

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Before laying down the crust, butter and flour your pan. Here is one of Giovanna’s shortcut secrets: She doesn’t roll her dough out. When the dough has been thoroughly chilled, she slices it! Then she just lays the slices in the pan, overlapping and pressing to make them stick together. (At home, I would do this in a tart pan with a removable bottom.) Time to pour the filling over the crust.

Now Giovanna makes a simple decorative basketweave crust topping with an extra portion of the dough leftover from laying the crust. She rolls the dough just as if she were playing with clay. Lay these strips across the top of your tart .......

.......and Tahdah!......It’s ready to go into the oven. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. 










When it comes out, the edges are golden, the center is set and it smells fabulous!

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Oh, I'm dying for a slice right now! Thank you once again to the lovely Giovanna for allowing me into her home, sharing her knowledge and cooking skills with me and for being an all around good friend.

Join me in Italy in 2014. You too just might get yourself invited into Giovanna's Kitchen. We'll see if we can work something out. Drop me a line at: mailto:[email protected]
Let's get cooking!