The PISTACHIO TART WITH RICOTTA AND CHOCOLATE is a mouthwatering Sicilian dessert, rich yet really simple to prepare, which can be served as a post-meal dessert or as a birthday cake or for any occasion that requires something truly special. It is, indeed, a lovely and delicious tart, in the best tradition of the island.
All the ingredients of a good Sicilian dessert are here: from the fragrant pistachio shortcrust pastry (which keeps an extraordinary aroma, I assure you!) to the filling with sweet sheep’s ricotta cream, garnished with chocolate to make it even more irresistible, just like in the famous cannoli. This tart also brings to mind the famous baked cassata, from which it differs for the delicious pistachio shortcrust pastry that, I assure you, creates a wonderful contrast with the ricotta cream it contains.
In short, from the few but delightful traditional ingredients comes an original dessert, easy and, most importantly, absolutely delicious.
WATCH OTHER DELICIOUS SICILIAN RECIPES:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 6-8 servings
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 607.72 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 71.28 (g) of which sugars 49.35 (g)
- Proteins 13.69 (g)
- Fat 31.77 (g) of which saturated 15.72 (g)of which unsaturated 11.00 (g)
- Fibers 2.54 (g)
- Sodium 134.06 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 130 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup pistachios (or pistachio flour)
- 6 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 6 tablespoons cold butter (cold)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 egg (medium at room temperature)
- 1 2/3 cups sheep's ricotta
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 oz dark chocolate
- 2 teaspoons pistachio spread
- to taste chopped pistachios
Tools
- 2 Bowls
- 1 Sieve
- 1 Pan
- 1 Rolling pin
HOW TO MAKE THE PISTACHIO TART WITH RICOTTA AND CHOCOLATE
The preparation of the PISTACHIO TART WITH RICOTTA AND CHOCOLATE is very simple but to make it at its best you must respect all the resting times.
Place the sheep’s ricotta in a bowl together with the sugar. Mix thoroughly, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or even better overnight.
After the resting time, take it out of the fridge and sift it. Add the chocolate chips and fold them in.
Toast the pistachios in a pan or in the oven for a few minutes. Then let them cool completely, put them in the food processor and grind them finely until almost a flour.
In a bowl put the all-purpose flour, the pistachio flour, the baking powder, a pinch of salt and the sugar. Mix the dry ingredients, make a well in the center and add the cold butter.
Begin working it quickly with your fingertips until you obtain the classic sandy mixture. Add the egg at room temperature and mix quickly, so as not to warm the butter too much, until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous dough. Form a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to firm up for at least 1 hour.
Take the shortcrust pastry out of the fridge and divide it into two disks, making one larger. Roll out the larger piece of pastry to a thickness of 1/8 in and line a 7 in springform pan.
Fill with the ricotta cream and level it. With the remaining pastry cut the classic diamond strips and decorate the tart.
Bake the PISTACHIO TART WITH RICOTTA AND CHOCOLATE in a preheated conventional (static) oven at 356°F for 35 minutes or until golden.
Once baked, remove it from the oven and let it cool completely. Then unmold it very gently; be careful because it is quite soft.
Decorate it with melted dark chocolate, the pistachio cream and the chopped pistachios.
STORAGE
The pistachio tart with ricotta and chocolate can be kept at room temperature for up to 1 day. After that, since it contains ricotta, it is best to place it in the fridge to prevent it from souring.
