Ricotta and dulce de leche tart

• 45 minutes to prepare • 35 minutes to cook • Serves 12

Sweetness. I think we got that covered.

 

"On a winter afternoon, at Argentine caudillo Juan Manuel de Rosas', the maid was preparing a lechada, a drink made of milk and sugar boiled until caramelized. She heard a knock at the door and left lechada on the stove to go opening the door; when she returned to the kitchen, the lechada was cooked until turning into a brown cream: the dulce de leche." 

 

This is just one of the several versions of dulce leche's birth story. In reality this sweet confection originated in Chile, and was imported into Argentina later, during the 17th century.  

It is prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk for a few hours until it becomes dense and creamy, and its flavor is very similar to caramel toffee candies.

 

Today we will prepare a delicious tart, filled with ricotta cheese and dulce de leche. It consists of a crispy shell of tart pastry containing a layer of creamy, lemon-flavored, sweetened ricotta on top of a layer of dulce de leche. Mmmmmmmmmm!!!

Here are ingredients for a 12-serving recipe (24-cm diameter baking pan):

 

For the pastry

 

300 g flour 00
120 g sugar
100 g butter
1 egg
1/2 sachet vanilla baking powder
salt

For the stuffing

200 g  ricotta cheese
200 g Dulce de leche
90 g sugar
3 lemons' zest
3 tablespoons milk

For the garnish

powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. In a bowl whisk the egg with the sugar. Add the butter cut into cubes and whisk again
3. Add sifted flour, the vanilla baking powder and a pinch of salt. Knead it quickly with your hands
4. Form a ball, wrap it with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes
5. Grease and flour the baking pan, then cover bottom and sides with the pastry cut into a flattened disc-shape, about 5 mm thick. Hole the pastry with a fork
6. Drain ricotta cheese in a colander. When it is dry, sift it and mix it in a bowl with all the other  ingredients for the tart filling, except dulce de leche
7. Pour a layer of dulce de leche into the pan, then the ricotta cream on top of it
8. Bake at 180°C (convection oven, middle shelf) until the surface of the cake becomes golden (about 35 minutes)
9. Once cooked, pull out the tart from the oven and let it cool. When tart is cold, sprinkle it with powdered sugar 

Nutrition Facts are detailed in the table below. Data is provided per serving.

We only live once. Lick the bowl.