Ingredients
| PASTRY | |
| 225g plain or Italian ‘00’ flour, plus extra for dusting | |
| 65g caster sugar | |
| 100g unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus extra for greasing | |
| 1 large egg | |
| 1 tablespoon finely grated unwaxed lemon zest | |
| pinch of sea salt | |
| icing sugar and cocoa powder, for dusting | |
| FILLING | |
| 225g ricotta cheese | |
| 55g caster sugar | |
| 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract | |
| 1 large egg yolk | |
| 1 tablespoon candied orange peel or mixed peel, finely chopped | |
| 1 tablespoon shelled hazelnuts, toasted and finely chopped | |
| 25g plain chocolate, 50% cocoa solids, grated |
These dome-shaped pastries are made from a sweet pasta dough. Their shape has inspired the name which, literally translated, means ‘breasts of Saint Agatha’. During a recent teaching trip in Italy, representatives of a major supermarket chain, who were attending, became very excited by this recipe, feeling it could be marketed as an Italian version of a Christmas mince pie. It certainly has as much diversity in its flavour and, in fact, tastes divine!
View the recipe collection here
Instructions
| 1. | To make the pastry, put the flour and sugar in a food processor and, working on full speed, add the butter pieces gradually until well mixed. |
| 2. | With the food processor still running, add the egg, lemon zest and salt. |
| 3. | Turn the dough out onto baking paper, flatten, cover and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. |
| 4. | Allow to come back to room temperature before rolling. |
| 5. | Push the ricotta through a sieve into a bowl. |
| 6. | Stir in the sugar, vanilla extract, egg yolk, peel, hazelnuts and chocolate until well mixed. |
| 7. | Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C. Grease a large baking sheet. |
| 8. | Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until about 5mm thick (see note). |
| 9. | Use a 7cm cutter to cut out about 24 circles. |
| 10. | Put 2 teaspoons of filling on half the pastry circles and top each with another pastry circle. |
| 11. | Press the edges to seal all round. |
| 12. | Place the pastries on the greased baking sheet and prick the top of each one with the tines of a fork. |
| 13. | Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes until golden. |
| 14. | Leave to cool, then dredge with icing sugar and cocoa powder. |
Cucina di Amalfi
by Ursula Ferrigno,
published by Ryland
Peters & Small,
photography by Nassima
Rothacker, distributed by
bookreps.co.nz, $49.99.