Ricotta Cheesecake Gluten Free

Today during the Hands on Italian Cooking class , Sonia , a guest from Arizona, asked for a cake with Ricotta cheese. I  remembered two days ago  Krista’s request for our Ricotta Cheese cake .And so here it is  for you our simple recipe,  without flour so perfect also for  Gluten Free friends .

Dolce di Ricotta

1 Kg ricotta 

300gr sugar

7 eggs

50 gr dark chocolate

Salt

Breadcrumbs

Oil

Decoration Icing /confectioner’ssugar sugar

Drain the ricotta cheese and mix it with sugar and salt.Place in the refrigerator for all the night.

The day after  add eggs and grated chocolate. Grease and sprinkle with breadcrumbs a cake tin. Pour the mixture in the cake tin. Bake it in the oven at 160°c for 1 hour.

To decorate,sprinkle the top with the icing/confectioer’s sugar.

Another excellent cake recipe is Crosta di Ricotta

Saint Valentine's Cake

A cake with ricotta cheese and chocolate and a large heart to celebrate Saint Valentin

CROSTATA DI RICOTTA

For the shortcrust pastry:     

• 300g flour                             
• 150g butter                            
• 150g sugar                            
• 2 egg yolks                           
• 1 egg                                     
• a pinch of salt                                     
• a pinch of cinnamon

For the cream:

•  400 gr Ricotta cheese
• 150 gr  sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 yolks
• 50g sultanas or 2 ebs. cocoa powder 
• 2 tbs. rhum or cognac 

Prepare the shortcrust  pastry: mix the butter and the sugar  then pour in the flour.

Add the egg yolks ,the egg , the cinnamon and the salt. Knead quickly. 

Form the dough into a ball and leave aside for one hour. 

Then,roll out 2/3 of the pastry and line the cake mold with it.

Place in a  preheated oven at 180 - 200 °C and bake for approximately 10  minutes. .

Meanwhile prepare the cream:mix the ricotta cheese with sugar,add the eggs, yolks and sultanas and rhum. 

Then pour it on the shortcrust pastry. Level  the surface .   

Use the remaining pastry for decorating the cake. 

Then cook in the oven for 20 minutes at 180°C

….AL CIOCCOLATO  add two tablespoons cocoa powder to the ricotta cheese

Easter Lunch in Italy : Pastiera Napoletana

And finally the dessert for our Easter lunch.

This year we have chosen the most typical in Italy : Pastiera Napoletana.

The "Pastiera" is a tart always eaten at Easter-time in Naples. It is made from an old recipe which has 2 particular ingredients which make it unique: moisture taken from the orange tree blossom and cooked wheat. Also used in the recipe are "ricotta" cheese, candid fruit and classic short pastry. It’ s easy to prepare, but it requires a little time and patience.
The Pastiera was used during the pagan celebrations of the return of the Spring time. The modern pastiera, was probably invented in a Neapolitan convent. A nun wanted that cake, symbol of the Resurection, to have the perfume of the flowers of the orange trees which grew in the convent’s gardens. She mixed a handful of wheat to the white ricotta cheese, then she added some eggs, symbol of the new life, some water which had the fragrance of the flowers of the spring time, cider and aromatic Asian spices.
Today every good Neapolitan housewife considers herself to be the one to have the authentic recipe of Pastiera.
The Pastiera has to be cooked with some days advance, no day later than Maudy Thursday or Maudy Friday, in order to allow the fragrances to mix properly to have as a result that unique taste.

Pastiera Napoletana
For the pastry
300 g flour
150g sugar
150g butter
2 eggs
Cinnamon

For the filling
500g ricotta cheese
250g precooked durum wheat
200g sugar
40g orange-blossom water
½l milk
6 eggs
1 lemon
Cinnamon

Pour the precooked durum wheat into the boiling milk with the peel of half a lemon, cinnamon, a spoonful of sugar and a little salt. Boil for about 30 minutes (until all the milk is absorbed). Then pour it onto a plate, remove the lemon and leave to cool. Meanwhile prepare the pastry and place it in the fridge for an hour.Mix the ricotta, sugar,cinnamon, grated lemon peel and orange-blossom water. Add the 6 egg yolks, one at a time, then the durum wheat and the stiffly-whisked egg whites. Roll out 2/3 of the pastry into a disc and line the bottom and the sides of a cake-tin with it. Pour on the filling and then cover with strips of pastry. Place in the oven at 180°C for 1½ hours. Leave to cool and then sprinkle with icing-sugar. Serve after one day.

Magi & Gio are breaking the Family Chocolate Egg, after Easter Lunch !!