Rhubarb and ricotta tart, honey and cinnamon yoghurt

Celebrate the sweet life with a slice of rhubarb and ricotta tart.

Sour cream pastry
200g chilled butter, chopped
250g plain flour
125ml sour cream
1 egg, beaten

Filling
10 rhubarb stalks, cut diagonally into 3-cm lengths
100g sugar
2 Tbs brandy
1/2 cup water

Topping
300g ricotta
250g mascarpone
100g caster sugar
Grated zest of 1 lime
2 eggs

Honey and cinnamon yoghurt
250ml natural yoghurt
1 Tbs honey
Pinch of cinnamon

1 To make the pastry, pulse the butter and flour in a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sour cream and pulse until the dough just forms a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

2 Brush a 26cm tart tin with a removable base with melted butter and dust it with flour, shaking out the excess. Roll the dough out on a floured work surface and line the tin with it, trimming any excess pastry. Refrigerate for a further 30 minutes.

3 Prepare the filling. Put the rhubarb in a saucepan with the sugar, brandy and water and cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes, until tender. Don't stir it too much as you want the rhubarb to keep some shape. Set aside to cool.

4 Combine the topping ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth.

5 Combine the ingredients for the honey and cinnamon yoghurt.

6 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Cover the chilled pastry shell with baking paper and fill it with baking weights, rice or beans. Bake for 10 minutes then remove the paper and weights and bake for a further 5 minutes or until cooked. Brush the shell with the beaten egg and bake for a final 5 minutes, or until light brown.

7 Lower the oven temperature to 170°C. Spread the cooled rhubarb over the baked tart shell. Cover with the ricotta mixture and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the topping has set. Let the tart cool a little before removing from the tin and slicing and serving with the yoghurt.

* Recipe extracted from Eat Ate by Guy Mirabella (Hardie Grant Books, RRP $45).

Eat Ate is a celebration of Italian food, capturing an array of Mediterranean flavours, from creamy roast pumpkin and asparagus lasagne to chargrilled sardines with pesto mayonnaise. Desserts are equally enticing, with decadent creations such as grand marnier orange cake with mascarpone, as well as new takes on classics like tiramisu. Guy Mirabella weaves his recipes between stories from his own Sicilian heritage, with beautifully rustic photography by Earl Carter.

This book is available from Cook the Books, 81 Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby, ph (09) 360 6513, cookthebooks.co.nz