Ricotta and cherry jam crostata (crostata di ricotta e visciole)

Author Notes

This is a wonderfully simple, crowd pleasing crostata. Cherry jam (preferably made with wild sour cherries) spread over a base of soft, crumbly, almost cake-like crust, and covered with a lightly-sweetened ricotta filling. A lattice top usually garnishes the crostata, but it's just as pretty without.

It's one of the consistent dessert items on Roman trattoria menus, yet the tradition itself was born in the Roman Ghetto. The traditional Roman Jewish ricotta and jam crostata made famous by the bakery Boccione, in via del Portico d'Ottavia, right in the heart of the Ghetto, is unique in the world. The recipe, a secret, is fiercely guarded and notoriously difficult to replicate.

The Boccione crostata's unique features include a rounded and a burnt-until-blackened top sans crust. It's not necessarily pretty, but the bitterness of the burnt top contrasts with the sweetness of the jam (quite like in a crème brulee) to create a balanced tart, much sought-after by those in the know of where to find Rome's best pastries.

They say this ricotta crostata is an ancient recipe and at one time was a way for Jewish vendors to sell – illegally – cheese, by hiding it under a pie crust. The older recipes included honey and candied fruit but over the last couple of centuries this ricotta crostata has become a more common dessert found all over the city of Rome.

Instead of jam, you could also use plump, fresh pitted sour cherries. A common variation on this crostata is chocolate chips stirred through the ricotta in place of the jam.

Traditionally sheep's milk ricotta is used and is preferable for its rich flavour and usually firmer texture. If using cow's milk ricotta and you find it's quite “wet” rather than firm, pour it into a sieve lined with a few layers of muslin (or a clean linen tea towel), set it over a bowl and let it drain overnight.

The recipe was inspired by an Italian cookbook on Roman cuisine called La Cucina di Roma e del Lazio and the pastry crust is adapted from one of Pellegrino Artusi's recipes for “pasta frolla” in his 1891 cookbook, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well. It works wonderfully: soft, crumbly and should be cooked so it's on the blond side and remains soft and cake-like. —Emiko