Crostata con crema di pere al Marsala

This tart could be a wonderful star of a tea time. It never gets old: a delicious peer cream, gently perfumed with Marsala, is enclosed in a shell of delicate pasta frolla, made soft with the ricotta cheese used in the dough. It is even more gorgeous if you wait a day before eating, it will get an even more tender and fondant texture.

Crostata con crema di pere al Marsala
Peer and Marsala cream tart

18cm tart tin

Ricotta shortcrust pastry 

    • 200gr plain flour (00 type - T405)
    • 2 yolks
    • 85gr caster sugar
    • 45gr unsalted chilled butter
    • 70gr ricotta cheese
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    • Lemon zest
    • Salt

Put the flour, the caster sugar and the lemon zest into a bowl and mix together. Add the butter in small cubes and rub the ingredients together with your fingertips, until form crumbs. Add two yolks, the ricotta cheese and a pinch of salt and work the dough until comes together, then shape it in a ball and press gently to form a flattish disk. Set aside in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 

Peer mousse

    • 4 ripe medium peers
    • 2 tablespoons caster sugar
    • 1/2 lemon juice

Peel and core the peers, cut in small pieces. Put in a shallow pan with the sugar and the lemon juice, cook it for about 15 minutes, until the peers are tender. Pour them in a mixer bowl and mix for few seconds until you have a smooth mousse.  

Peer and Marsala custard

    • 300gr peer mousse
    • 1 egg
    • 60gr caster sugar
    • 25gr corn starch
    • Lemon peel
    • 1 shot of Marsala wine

Put a bowl in the freezer. Pour the peer mousse with the Marsala and the lemon peel in a small sauce pan, bring to hot temperature. In the meantime, gently whisk the egg with the sugar and the corn starch. Take out the lemon peel from the pan and add in two times the hot peer sauce into the egg mixture. Once combine put the sauce in the pan and cook it slowly for about ten minutes, continuously whisking, until the cream is soft, smooth and bit thick. Take the bowl out from the freezer and pour the custard into it, whisk vigorously to low the temperature for one minute, in order to not overcook the egg. Cover with cling film and set aside until is lukewarm.

To assemble. Heat the oven to 200°C. Butter the sides and the bottom of the tin tart, then cover the bottom with a small circle of parchment paper. Take the shortcrust pastry from the fridge, dust with flour and roll out between two sheets of parchment paper. After the rest in the fridge the dough will be sticky and bit wet: it is fine, do not be worried, dusting with flour will help you to roll out. The pastry should be not more than 2-3mm thin. Lift the pastry on the rolling pin and place it over your tin. Press it into the sides, cutting out the excess. Crumble coarsely the rest of the shortcrust (or just a part of it if you feel that it is too much, you can shape cookies with the excess). Fill the pastry with the peer custard and evenly cover with the crumbles. Bake it for about 30-40 minutes until crisp and golden.

Serve it completely cool, or even better waiting for the day after.