Easter tart
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This is the traditional tart made in Napoli for the Easter festivities, and was originally made with grains of wheat, but is sometimes now made with pearl barley (soaked overnight and cooked according to instructions). The combination of ingredients may seem strange, but they are associated with ancient Roman celebrations of the rite of spring: flowers, eggs for new life, ricotta from the sheep, wheat and flour from the land though the tart as we know it today is said to have been created, like so many of our sweet dishes, by a nun in a local convent. One of the many legends associated with the dish involves a mermaid called Partenope. One of the best stories is that she lived in the Gulf of Napoli, and to celebrate the arrival of spring each year she would come and sing to the inhabitants. One year, to say thank you for her songs, they offered her local gifts: ricotta, flour, eggs, wheat, perfumed orange flowers and spices. She was so delighted, she took them to her kingdom under the sea, where the gods mixed them together into a cake.
ingredients
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serves: 8-10
a little melted butter
1 pound Sweet pastry
confectioner's sugar to dust
For the filling:
3/4 cup wheat grains (bulgur)
1 cup milk
1/2 lemon(peel, left whole, the rest grated)
2 pinches of ground cinnamon
1/2 cup superfine sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup fresh ricotta cheese
4 teaspoons orange flower water
1/3 cup candied citron (or lemon, peel and candied orange peel, chopped)
3 eggs (separated)
Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount per Serving
Calories: 475
- Total Fat: 20 g
- Saturated Fat: 7.1 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Cholesterol: 99.5 mg
- Sodium: 364 mg
- Total Carbs: 65 g
- Dietary Fiber: 2.3 g
- Sugars: 31.5 g
- Protein: 10.7 g
preparation
1. Put the wheat in a pan, cover with water (no salt) and boil for 20 minutes. Leave to cool in its own water, then drain in a sieve.
2. Bring the milk to a boil in a pan. Then add the drained wheat, the piece of lemon peel, 1 pinch of cinnamon, a tablespoon of the superfine sugar and the salt. Cook really slowly until all the milk has been absorbed (around an hour). Take the lemon peel out and spread the mixture on a plate to cool.
3. Put the ricotta into a sieve to drain off its liquid. Mix it with the rest of the sugar, the grated lemon zest, another pinch of cinnamon, the orange flower water and the candied fruit. Add the egg yolks a little at a time, mixing in well. Stir in the cooled wheat mixture.
4. Whip 2 of the egg whites until stiff, and incorporate into the mixture. Brush a l3—inch round (2 inches deep) tart tin with melted butter. Divide the pastry into 2 balls, one slightly bigger than the other. Roll out the larger piece and use to line the tart tin. Spoon in the wheat mixture and trim the pastry around the rim of the tin. Leave to rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the even to 355°F. Roll out the ether hall of pastry and out into strips. Lay these ever the top of the tart to make a lattice a design, sealing well at the outer edges. Bake for about an hour until colored, then turn down the heat to 250°F , and bake until a skewer inserted into the center of the filling comes out clean (around 10 minutes). Cool inside the tin and dust with confectioner’s sugar.
1
comments
arlene
May 9, 2012