TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Crostata di RicottaRoman Ricotta Tart
A ricotta-filled crostata representing Roman desserts. A beautiful lattice of pasta frolla encloses a filling of ricotta cream with chocolate chips and lemon, then bakes to a golden tart.
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Ingredients (8 servings)
- Cake flour300 g
- Unsalted butterCut while cold150 g
- Icing sugar for the pastry100 g
- Egg yolks for the pastry2
- Lemon zest for the pastryUse a Japanese-grown, unwaxed lemon; grate only the colored outer peel, avoiding the white pith1 lemon, zested
- Salt1 g
- Drained cow’s-milk ricottaDrain in a sieve in the refrigerator from the day before; excess moisture makes the baked tart wet500 g
- Sugar for the filling150 g
- Eggs for the filling3
- Lemon zest for the fillingUse a Japanese-grown, unwaxed lemon; grate only the colored outer peel, avoiding the white pith1 lemon, zested
- Dark chocolate chips80 g
- Rum or sambucaOptional, for flavor15 ml
Method
Make and rest the pasta frolla
- 1 Grate only the colored outer peel of the lemon for the pastry.
- 2 Rub 150 g cold butter into 300 g flour with your fingers until breadcrumb-like.
- 3 Add 100 g icing sugar, salt, the grated lemon zest and 2 egg yolks, and quickly bring together.
- 4 Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Ready when
Continue when the dough is cohesive and not sticky, after 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Caution
Do not overknead: developing gluten takes away the short, crisp texture.
Make the filling
- 1 Grate only the colored outer peel of the lemon for the filling.
- 2 Smooth 500 g drained ricotta with a spatula.
- 3 Add 150 g sugar, 3 eggs, the grated lemon zest and 15 ml rum, mixing thoroughly.
- 4 Add 80 g chocolate chips.
Ready when
Continue when the filling is smooth and uniform.
Line the tart tin
- 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- 2 Roll 2/3 of the dough to 3 mm thick and line a 26 cm diameter tart tin.
- 3 Prick the base with a fork.
Ready when
Continue when the dough lines the entire tin evenly.
Fill and add the lattice
- 1 Pour in the ricotta filling and level the surface.
- 2 Cut the remaining dough into strips 1.5 cm wide and arrange in a lattice.
- 3 Press the ends against the tin edge to secure.
Ready when
Continue when the lattice is complete.
Bake the ricotta tart
- 1 Bake at 180°C for 40–45 minutes.
- 2 Cool in the tin for at least 1 hour.
- 3 Remove from the tin.
Ready when
It is baked when the pastry is golden brown and the filling set.
Caution
Unmolding while hot makes the filling collapse; wait until completely cool.
Dust with icing sugar
- 1 Dust with icing sugar.
About this dish
An essential part of Rome’s Easter table, this tart is characterized by sheep’s-milk ricotta, lemon and dark chocolate chips. The bitterness of dark chocolate combines with ricotta’s gentle dairy flavor and sugar’s sweetness to create a complex balance, beyond a merely sweet filling.
Rome’s pastry culture has been strongly influenced by its Jewish community. Food traditions from the former ghetto in the Rione Sant’Angelo still live in Roman cooking, and one theory gives ricotta tarts a shared origin with Passover sweets.
The pasta frolla lattice developed for a practical reason. A fully enclosed lid traps steam and makes the filling watery; lattice openings allow the right evaporation while retaining the structure. Function and beauty meet in the same solution.
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