Ricotta & Nutella ‘Crostata’ Tart-Easy

Many people who know me well, know that i have more of a cheese tooth rather than a sweet tooth and have never bigged up my dessert skills….cos frankly i don’t think I have any.

However, my tiny Italian friend Valentina is the sweet tooth queen and has made me this dish a couple of time. I had my Xmas bake off and was planning to make something savoury but that did not go to plan. So in 1 1/2 hours, I managed to bake this delicious dish and not a crumb was left :-). Ingredients: 8-10 portions

150g Plain Flour

80g Butter (cold)

60g Caster Sugar

1 egg

Vanilla Essence

Pinch of salt

For the filling:

400g Ricotta

400g of Nutella

2 tablespoons of Sugar

1 egg yolk

Cocao Powder

• To make the pastry, add the flour and butter (cubed) into a bowl. With you fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until it looks like a crumble.
• Then add, the sugar. Mix the egg yolk with 2 tbsp of water. Add to 1 tbsp and 2 tbsp of egg and mix with the flour and butter. Try to bring the crumb together with your hands until it becomes a dough. Try not to add to much liquid or overwork pastry.
• Roll the pastry into a ball.
• Wrap in clingfilm, and put in the fridge for 30 mins or freezer for no longer than 15 mins.
• Take out of the freezer, and between 2 sheets of grease proof paper, roll out the pastry until it is 5mm thick.
• When rolled out, lift the pastry and place into a pastry/flan tin, (leave the grease proof paper so it faces down into the tin) and press it into the tin.
• Blind bake in the oven for 20-25 mins.
• Take out of oven and spread the Nutella on the base carefully
• Mix the ricotta, 2 tablesponns of sugar and egg yolk; then spread a layer on top of the Nutella

Tiny Italian Hint: Add a little coffee to the ricotta mixture. Coffee and chocolate is a great flavour tasting combination.

• Cook in the oven at 180C for 45 minutes
• Let it cool down and sprinkle cocao powder on top to serve