Torta di Ricotta e Limone
Ricotta is such a wonderful Italian cheese with so many uses in both savory and sweet dishes.
In this lemon tart the ricotta adds a lovely lightness and creaminess to the filling. To make it even lighter I used filo pastry to make the tart case.
My version of this tart is made without eggs and uses a tiny amount of cornflour to stabilise the filling.
Once cooked the texture is similar to a very light cheesecake, with lovely bursts of lemon throughout.
I also made some mini acquafaba meringues to pop on top of the tart adding them just before serving to make sure they stay crunchy. You can of course just decorate with some icing sugar if you prefer.
My tip is to taste the filling before baking so you can decide whether a little bit more lemon is needed.
Mangia, mangia! 👩🏻🍳
Torta di Ricotta e Limone recipe:
4 sheets of filo pastry for a 20cm round sandwich tin
Lemon Ricotta Filling:
250g tub ricotta
50g mascarpone
50g icing or caster sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice from 2 lemons
2 tbsps cornflour
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Serves 8
1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan.
2. Line the sandwich tin with filo pastry and spray each layer with oil. Scrunch up the pastry at the edges to make a neat boarder.
3. Bake the filo pastry blind for 10 minutes. I placed a layer of foil inside the pastry before baking.
4. Make the filling in the meantime. Add all the ingredients in a bowl apart from the cornflour and whisk until the filling is smooth. At this point taste the filling and if you feel it needs more lemon juice/zest add it in. Finally whisk in the cornflour.
5. Take the tart out of the oven, remove the foil and spoon in the filling ensuring it fills to the edges of the pastry. Even out the top and return to the oven for about 20-25 minutes until lightly golden on top.
6. Leave to cool completely before carefully removing from the tin. Use a knife to gently coax the tart out if necessary.
7. Add the mini meringues on top or just sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.
8. Keep in the fridge for 3-4 days and take out 20 minutes before serving.
