Ricotta and honey is an absolutely classic flavour pairing and one of my personal favourites. This tart is gorgeous, really light and beautifully silky in texture.
The subtle warming spice in the pastry adds a great touch, and that flavour, coupled with the citrus zest in the filling, is a real match made in heaven.
When it comes to the ricotta, I highly recommend using a good-quality buffalo milk ricotta. It tends to be smoother and creamier than the cow’s milk counterpart, with a slightly sweeter flavour.
RICOTTA, HONEY AND YOGHURT TART RECIPE
Serves 8-10
Spiced pastry
250g plain flour
80g icing sugar
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp flaky salt
120g butter, cold and diced
3 egg yolks
Ricotta filling
250g ricotta
250g cream cheese
150g Greek yoghurt
40g caster sugar
55g mānuka honey
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
1 tsp vanilla paste
2 eggs
- For the pastry, combine the flour, icing sugar, spices, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add in the egg yolks and pulse again briefly. Tip the pastry onto the bench and use your hands to bring together and shape into a 2cm thick disc. Wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Dust the bench lightly with flour and roll the pastry out until 5mm thick. Line a 23cm fluted tart tin with the pastry, trimming to 1cm above the top. Freeze for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 160C fan-bake. Place a baking tray on the middle rack to heat up.
- To blind bake the tart shell, spray the pastry lightly with some oil before laying 2 sheets of tin foil over the top in the shape of a cross. Gently press into the base and carefully up the sides of the tart. Fold the excess tin foil over the top of the pastry edges so all the pastry is completely covered. Fill the base of the tart with baking beans if you have some, otherwise rice or dried beans are the perfect substitute.
- Blind bake the tart case for 30 minutes, remove the baking beans and bake for a further 10 minutes until the pastry is dry and lightly golden in colour. Remove the tart from the oven, leaving the baking tray in there, and allow to cool to room temperature.
- For the ricotta filling, process the ricotta, cream cheese, yoghurt, sugar, honey, zests and vanilla in a food processor until smooth. Add the eggs, and blend again briefly until just incorporated.
- Pour the filling into the tart case and bake for 30–35 minutes. There should still be a slight wobble in the middle.
- Cool to room temperature before setting in the fridge for 3–4 hours. Remove from the fridge at least 1 hour before serving.
Recipe extracted from ‘Butter, Butter’ by Petra Galler (Allen & Unwin, $49.99), out now.
