Torta di Ricotta Recipe

Name: Torta di Ricotta
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 100 min
Yield: 12
Ingredients: 1/4 cup superfine sugar*; 3 tbsp water; 5 tbsp pine nuts; 4 tbsp golden raisins; 2 tbsp rum; 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 1 1/4 cup ground almonds; 1 tbsp baking powder; 8 oz unsalted butter (very cold cut into 1/4 inch pieces); 1 large egg; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 tbsp ice water; 1 1/2 lb whole milk ricotta cheese*; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 tsp grated orange rind; 1/2 tsp sea salt; 3/4 cup superfine sugar; 2 oz semi sweet chocolate chips; 1/4 cup heavy cream (if mixture is too dry)

June 12, 2012 by Chef Dennis Littley 41 Comments

This crusted ricotta torte aka Torta di Ricotta is super flavorful and would make a great addition to your family's holiday dessert table.

Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

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Enjoy the holiday’s with my Torta di Ricotta!

Over the last year or so I have shared recipes and my memories of Mama Jeanette. I think one of the few gifts of old age is to remember your younger days with great clarity, sometimes seeming more recent than current events, and lately more and more of my time with Mama Jeanette has been resurfacing. Maybe it’s time to start writing it all down before I lose those precious memories again.

I had watched Mama Jeanette make a variety of fresh cheeses during my time with her, but of course, I didn’t really pay attention at the time, I was more interested in the end result that was being created with those delicious cheeses. My first experience with a ricotta cheesecake was a bit of a disappointment for me, it wasn’t what I used to, the flavors and textures were completely different, and on top of that, it wasn’t very sweet. What I would come to realize later, was the complexity of this simple dessert and the fact that sugar didn’t mask the real flavors of this glorious cake, is what made this cheesecake a staple in the Italian household. I tried to hide my disappointment that night, but as usual Mama Jeanette could read me like a book, she said “Sonny boy, sometimes you have to look past your expectations, to see clearly. Don’t let your mind dictate would should be, instead let yourself imagine what could be” That lesson has served me well over the years, even though human nature would tell you otherwise.

From that point on, I noticed that there always seemed to be a bowl of fresh ricotta in the fridge and no matter what time of day, it became a welcome addition to many of my meals, as I came to appreciate the flavor and texture of ricotta. I would devour my portion with fresh fruit, or simply drizzled with honey, and it was when Mama Jeanette noticed that I had learned to enjoy ricotta cheese for what it was, that she made this Torta di Ricotta that I’m going to share with you today.

As always there was another lesson baked inside this glorious dessert, for if this had been the first Ricotta Cheesecake I had tasted, I would never have been satisfied with the simpler versions, nor would I have learned to love that delicious cheese as it was meant to be eaten, right from the bowl. Mama Jeanette had waited to make this incredible dessert, until she knew that I would truly understand and appreciate the complexity of flavors that were combined to make this Torta di Ricotta, like a fine wine with subtle undertones and nuances….sigh This truly was a dessert to celebrate with, and that day we we’re celebrating life.

I would have never remembered the exact amounts or all of the ingredients to this wonderful cheesecake, but thankfully I had sent this recipe to a friend for safekeeping, along with a few others that time would have erased from my memory. Come to think of it, it had been Mama Jeanette’s idea for me to mail the recipes to a friend, she knew all along that it would a difficult journey for me. This recipe and others would have been lost for sure, and now I entrust this recipe to you my friends, use it in good health.

If you’d like to make your own ricotta, it’s not difficult and you can find the recipe here –> Homemade Ricotta Cheese .

If you’ve tried my Torta di Ricotta recipe or any other recipe on askchefdennis.com please don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know where you found it in the comments below, I love hearing from you!

You can also FOLLOW ME on Instagram @chefdenniseats and @chefdennistravels, Twitter and Facebook.

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4.8 from 10 votes

Torta di Ricotta

This crusted ricotta torte aka Torta di Ricotta is super flavorful and would make a great addition to your family's holiday dessert table.

Prep Time45 mins

Cook Time55 mins

Total Time1 hr 40 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Italian dessert, ricotta dessert

Servings:

Calories: 624kcal

Author: Chef Dennis Littley

Ingredients

Pine Nut Brittle

1/4 cup superfine sugar*
3 tbsp water
5 tbsp pine nuts

Rum Soaked Raisins

4 tbsp golden raisins
2 tbsp rum

Crust

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup ground almonds
1 tbsp baking powder
8 oz unsalted butter very cold cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp ice water

Filling

1 1/2 lb whole milk ricotta cheese*
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp grated orange rind
1/2 tsp sea salt
3/4 cup superfine sugar
2 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy cream if mixture is too dry

Instructions

Pine Nut Brittle

toast 5 tablespoons of pine nuts in a saute pan just until they start to get color, moving them around constantly so they do not burn. Once they are toasted remove from the pan to cool
in a small pan add sugar and water, heat over high neat until mixture begins to boil and all the sugar is dissolved
add the pine nuts to the sugar syrup and continue to swirl the pan until the mixture turns amber.
place finished mixture onto oiled cookie sheet to cool and harden

Rasins

mix raisins and rum together and allow them to sit until all the rum has been absorbed

Crust

using a food processor- add the flour, brown sugar, almonds, and baking powder, pulse 2 or 3 times
add butter pieces and pulse 4 or 5 times until mixture looks like coarse meal
mix egg, and vanilla together and pour into the mixture while the food processor is running. Mix just enough to blend!
If mixture looks too dry add ice water
Dough will look loose, that's ok
place dough onto work table and form into 2 balls, one third and two thirds of mixture. Do not work dough, even if it does not come completely together, just do your best to form balls, then wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Filling

Mix ricotta, orange rind, vanilla, sea salt, sugar, raisins and pine nut brittle together until well blended*
Add chocolate chips

Assembly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 C)
using a 10 inch springform pan, line the inside with aluminum foil, overlapping slightly on the outside. Use two criss crossing pieces, and make sure foil is tight to the sides of the pan.
place larger of your dough balls in the pan and flatten it out, going half way up the inside of the pan with the dough. Make this layer is as even as possible, especially the side walls.
Spoon ricotta mixture into the prepared pan
In between two pieces of parchment paper, roll out the remaining dough ball, just a little bit larger than your springform pan.
Place this dough onto of the ricotta mixture, and carefully pinch the dough into dough on the sides of the pan.
Don't worry if it cracks slightly, just try not to leave any holes in the dough.
Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the top is a nice golden brown.
Allow cheesecake to cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then remove the outer pan and very gently peel back the foil and allow it to continue to cool for an additional 30 minutes.
Refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 4 hours before serving to allow it to set up, there are no eggs in this cake to help bind it, and if you cut it too soon it will run.
After the cheesecake has set up, remove the bottom of the springform pan and place on serving platter, allow cheesecake to come back to room temperature before serving.

Notes

*if you do not have superfine sugar, you can pulse granulated sugar 5 or 6 times until it becomes a finer granule.
* My homemade ricotta was very dry and I needed to add 1/4 cup of heavy cream to the mixture

Nutrition

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About Chef Dennis

Chef Dennis is a semi-retired Chef, writer/blogger, photographer, recipe developer and creator of A Culinary Journey with Chef Dennis aka Ask Chef Dennis®. Chef Dennis worked professionally in White Table Cloth Restaurants for 40 years and has been developing easy to make, restaurant-style recipes since 2009. The second phase of his reinvention from chef to blogger has earned him a place at the Worlds Dinner Table. Join him on his Culinary Journey enjoying his easy to make Restaurant Style recipes and travel adventures. For more details, check out his About page.

Torta di Ricotta Recipe