Ingredients
For bottom crust, wafer thin
"Pasta Matta" (Crazy dough)
Flour
Water
Salt
For filling
500 grams (about 16 ounces) ricotta cheese
150 grams (about 5 1/4 ounces) sugar
150 grams (about 5 1/4 ounces) sweet almonds, blanched
4 or 5 bitter almonds, blanched
4 whole eggs
4 egg yolks
a touch of vanilla
lard for greasing pan
Original Italian text
Ricotta, grammi 500
Zucchero, grammi 150
Mandorle dolci, grammi 150
Dette amare, No. 4 or 5
Uova intere, N. 4
Rossi, No. 4
Odore di vainiglia
Directions
This cake is traditionally served at peasant weddings in Romagna, and is superior to many of the fine desserts prepared by pastry chefs.
Blanch the almonds in hot water, and then grind them as finely as possible in a mortar along with one of the egg whites.
Pass the ricotta through a strainer if it is lumpy, and then mix with the ground and blanched almonds.
Beat the rest of the eggs and then add them to the ricotta mixture along with the sugar.
Meanwhile make a very thin pie crust with "pasta matta" (Crazy dough) and line a baking pan with it.*
Pour the mixture in the pan, it should be about one and half fingers deep.
Bake in a moderate oven, covering it with fire-proof paper, so that the top will remain as white as possible after it is baked.
Cool.
Cut into lozenge [diamond] shapes, in such a way that under every piece there is a very thin wafer.
*To make "Pasta Matta" (Crazy dough)
Referred to as crazy not because it has anything to do with madness, but because of the ease it can be done.
Sprinkle water and salt in the right proportions in order to form a dough that can be easily be rolled out wafer thin.
Original Italian text
Questa torta riesce di gusto consimile al budino di ricotta, ma piu delicata ed e il dolce che si imbandisce di preferenza alle nozze dei contadini in Romagna e che, per merito, puo dar molti punti a tanti dolci raffazzonati dai pasticceri.
Si prepara come il detto budino , ma le mandorle, dopo pestate con una chiara d'uovo, e bene passarle per istaccio.
Ungete abbondantemente una teglia col lardo e rivestitela di una sfoglia di pasta matta e sopra alla medesima versate il composto alla grossezza di un dito e mezzo al incirca, cuocendolo fra due fuochi o nel forno.
Raccomando il calore moderatissimo e la precauzione di un foglio sopra unto col burro, perche la bellezza di questa torta e che sia cotta in bianco.
Quando sara ben diaccia latagliatela a mandorle in modo che ogni pezzo abbia la sua pasta matta sotto, la quale si mangia o no secondo il pacer d'ognuno, essendosi essa usata al solo scopodi ornamento e di pulizia.
Potra bastare per dodici o piu persone.
Notes
The recipe in this entry was taken from "La Scienza in Cucina e L'Arte di Mangiar Bene manuale Pratico per le Famiglie" compilato da Pellegrino Artusi. The book was first published in 1891. Since then many Italian editions have been published. Olga Ragusa's selection of recipes from Pellegrino Artusi's famous cookbook, titled "The Italian Cook Book," can be found in its entirety at www.archive.org (It's free). The University of Toronto recently published a new English edition of Pellegrino Artusi's "Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well"; many of the recipes in this edition can be found at www.books.google.ca.... Photo: Mary Melfi. |
