Crostata di Visciole con Ricotta e Vino di Visciole Umbra

Ingredients

• For the pasta frolla
• 250 g plain flour, cold
• 125 g unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
• 80 g caster sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 pinch fine salt
• For the ricotta filling
• 400 g sheep's ricotta, drained
• 2 eggs
• 80 g caster sugar
• 1 lemon, zest only, finely grated
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon, traditional Umbrian addition
• 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg, traditional Umbrian addition
• For the visciole
• 300 g visciole (morello cherries) in wine, jarred, drained; wine reserved
• For the glaze
• 100 ml reserved visciole wine, from the jar, reduced to a syrup

Method

1. 1
   Combine the cold flour, cold cubed butter, sugar and salt in a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolks and bring the dough together quickly without overworking. Form into a disc, wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. The dough is ready when it is firm and holds a clean edge when pressed.
2. 2
   Roll the chilled frolla to 3–4 mm on a lightly floured surface and line a 22–24 cm tart tin. Trim the edges. Prick the base with a fork, line with baking paper and fill with baking weights. Blind-bake at 170 °C for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and paper; the base should be dry to the touch and very lightly coloured at the edges — without this, the wet ricotta filling will prevent the base from baking fully.
3. 3
   Beat the sheep's ricotta with the eggs, caster sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon and nutmeg until smooth and just combined. The filling should be just sweet enough to balance the bitterness of the visciole — taste and correct. Do not overbeat; the mixture should be smooth and homogeneous, not aerated.
4. 4
   This is where the dish lives or dies. Spread the visciole cherries evenly over the blind-baked base, then pour the ricotta filling over them. Return the tart to the oven at 170 °C and bake until the ricotta is just set — it should barely tremble at the centre when the tin is gently moved, with no liquid motion. The surface should be barely coloured, not cracked. Overbaked ricotta cracks and becomes granular; remove the tart the moment the filling is set.
5. 5
   While the tart cools, reduce the reserved visciole wine in a small saucepan over moderate heat to a glossy syrup. Brush over the surface of the tart once it has reached room temperature. The glaze is ready when it coats the back of a spoon and holds a line drawn through it.
6. 6
   Rest the tart at room temperature, uncovered. It is best served the following day: the ricotta sets completely, the flavours integrate, and the frolla firms. The tart is ready when a clean slice holds its shape without the filling weeping at the cut edge.