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1
Combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the beaten egg and cold water. Mix to a firm, smooth dough — it should not be sticky. Wrap and rest for 15 minutes at room temperature. The dough is ready when it no longer springs back under a finger.
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2
Drain the requeijão thoroughly. If substituting ricotta, press it in muslin for a full 2 hours before use. The cheese must yield no visible moisture when pressed; any residual liquid will prevent the filling from setting.
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3
Beat together the drained requeijão, eggs, sugar, and cinnamon until the mixture is smooth and uniform in colour. Reserve.
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4
On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry out very thin — no more than 2 mm. Cut rounds large enough to line individual tartlet tins with a slight overhang. Press the pastry gently into the tins without stretching it. This is where the dish lives or dies: pastry rolled too thick will dominate the delicate filling; pastry stretched rather than eased will shrink and crack during baking, causing the filling to overflow and burn on the tin.
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5
Fill each shell to 80% capacity. The filling rises slightly in the oven; overfilling causes the cheese to overflow onto the tin where it burns.
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6
Bake at 175 °C for 20–25 minutes. The tartlets are done when the filling is fully set — it should not tremble when the tin is nudged — and the surface is lightly golden. An underbaked filling will collapse on cooling.
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7
Remove from the tins while still warm. The shells should release cleanly and feel slightly crisp to the touch. Cool on a wire rack before serving.