The ricotta and sour cherry tart is a traditional recipe from Roman Jewish cuisine. You can taste the original one in the restaurants or bakeries of the Ghetto of Rome, my beautiful city.
Legend has it that when some papal decrees prohibited Jews from selling dairy products to Christians, bakers hid the ricotta and sour cherry filling between two layers of shortcrust pastry to escape the scrutiny of papal guards, thus creating a tart called “papal tart“, the delicious ricotta and sour cherry tart.
This delightful recipe consists of a disc of shortcrust pastry covered with a layer of sour cherry jam and a layer of ricotta cream, sealed with another disc of pastry. You can use a high-quality sour cherry (visciolata) jam, which is always available throughout the year, or fresh sour cherries, pitted and sugared, although fresh sour cherries are only available in June and July.
So, what do you say, shall we prepare this wonderful and delicious tart together?
I also leave you with:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 10/12
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 408.52 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 52.57 (g) of which sugars 28.05 (g)
- Proteins 9.38 (g)
- Fat 18.73 (g) of which saturated 11.81 (g)of which unsaturated 6.46 (g)
- Fibers 1.05 (g)
- Sodium 81.17 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 120 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 for the Ricotta and Sour Cherry Tart
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 14 tbsps butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs (small)
- 1 lemon zest (Grated)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 lb ricotta (fresh cow or sheep)
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 lemon zest (finely grated)
- 1 1/3 cups sour cherries (jam)
Tools
- Cake Pan
- Bowl
- Stand Mixer
Ricotta and Sour Cherry Tart
In the bowl of the stand mixer with the paddle attachment, place the butter cut into cubes and the sugar. Mix until you get a nice cream, add the eggs, the grated lemon zest, and a pinch of salt. Continue working at medium speed and add the flour, increase the speed and work until you get a homogeneous mixture.
Wrap the obtained dough in parchment paper and put it in the refrigerator for at least half an hour.
After letting the ricotta drain overnight in the refrigerator, sieve it into a bowl. Add the powdered sugar and the very finely grated lemon zest and mix well with a spatula.
Take the shortcrust pastry from the fridge and divide it into two parts, one larger because it will be the base of the tart.
Roll it out with a rolling pin and place it on a 9.5-inch tart pan. Prick the base with a fork and spread the sour cherry jam, smoothing the surface with a spoon, and cover with the ricotta cream, leveling it evenly with a spatula.
Roll out the remaining pastry, close the tart, remove the excess pastry, and seal the edge with a fork. Prick the surface with a fork and bake in a static oven at 340°F for about an hour, covering it midway with a sheet of aluminum foil to prevent it from browning too much. Once cooked, remove it from the oven, let it cool, and dust with powdered sugar.
Storage
You can store it for a couple of days at room temperature or during warmer weather in the refrigerator.
