Crostata Di Ricotta
Submitted by bschwar
Crostata di ricotta is the classic Italian lattice-topped tart filled with sweetened ricotta, grappa-soaked raisins, bittersweet chocolate, and orange zest. Pasta frolla crust, dusted with powdered sugar.
YIELD
1 tartPREP
1 hrsCOOK
50 minREADY
2 hrsThis is the tart every Italian grandmother has a slight variation on. Crostata di ricotta leans on a pasta frolla crust, the classic Italian sweet pastry dough with a little more egg and less butter than French pate sucree, which gives it a tender cookie-like bite rather than a flaky pie shell.
Inside, fresh ricotta is sweetened with sugar and whisked with eggs, lifted with vanilla and a hit of fresh orange zest, and punched up with chopped bittersweet chocolate and raisins macerated in grappa. That splash of Italian grape brandy is what separates a good crostata from a great one, adding warmth and a gentle perfume you can’t fake with extract.
The lattice top is for show, but it matters. The open weave lets steam escape and keeps the filling from weeping through a solid crust.
Pro Tips
- Drain the ricotta if it looks watery. Grocery-store ricotta can carry excess liquid that turns the filling loose and the crust soggy.
- Chill the shell the full 30 minutes before filling. Warm dough shrinks during baking and the tart pulls away from the sides.
- Don’t weave the lattice strips. Laying them perpendicular and unwoven is traditional and easier to manage.
- Brush the lattice with egg wash for that deep golden color. Skipping the wash leaves the strips pale.
Variations
- Swap raisins for chopped candied orange peel or dried cherries for a different dried-fruit profile.
- Use amaretto in place of grappa if grappa is hard to find; the almond note plays differently but well.
- Add a tablespoon of pine nuts to the filling for a more Sicilian-style cassata-leaning ricotta dessert.
Ingredients
Directions
Roll out the larger disk of dough ⅛ inch thick on a floured surface, fit it into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable fluted rim, and crimp the edge. Chill the shell for 30 minutes.
In a small bowl combine the raisins and the grappa and let the raisins macerate for 30 minutes. In a bowl whisk together the eggs, the ricotta, the granulated sugar, the vanilla, and the zest, stir in the chocolate and the raisin mixture, and pour the filling into the shell.
Roll out the remaining disk of dough ⅛ inch thick on a floured surface, cut it into ½-inch-wide strips with a fluted pastry wheel, and arrange some of the strips, about 1 inch apart, over the filling. (If desired, arrange the remaining strips, about 1 inch apart, perpendicular to the others, forming a lattice, but do not weave the strips.) Trim all the strips, press them against the inside of the shell, and brush them with the egg wash. Bake the tart in the middle of a preheated 350℉ (180℃) oven for 50 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and a knife inserted in the center of the filling comes out clean, and let it cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove the rim, let the tart cool completely on the rack, and dust it with the confectioners’ sugar.
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