Light Ricotta Pastiera

📝 Ingredients

• 1 roll of shortcrust pastry (230 g)
• 1 tbsp plain flour (for the work surface)
• 60 g arborio rice
• 300 ml semi-skimmed milk
• 500 g ricotta (2 × 250 g tubs)
• 3 eggs
• 80 g caster sugar (10 g for the rice, 70 g for the cream)
• 1 unwaxed orange (zest)
• 1 tbsp orange blossom water
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 10 g icing sugar (to serve)

🍴 Utensils

• Saucepan
• 22 cm springform tin
• Rolling pin
• Mixing bowl
• Spatula
• Fine grater

📖 Steps

1. Bring the milk to a simmer in a saucepan with 10 g of sugar, then sprinkle in the rice. Cook for 25 min over a low heat, stirring often, until the rice is tender and has absorbed almost all the milk, like a thick rice pudding. Leave to cool slightly.
2. Preheat the oven to 170 °C (conventional). Unroll the shortcrust pastry on the floured work surface and roll it out a little more to add 3 to 4 cm to its diameter: thinner pastry is lighter, and there will be enough left over for the lattice.
3. Line the base of a 22 cm springform tin with baking paper, then line the tin with the pastry, letting it come 4 cm up the sides. Trim off the excess, prick the base with a fork and chill along with the trimmings.
4. Drain the ricotta if it releases any whey, then work it with a fork in a mixing bowl with 70 g of sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the finely grated orange zest, orange blossom water and cinnamon.
5. Add the cooled rice (it must no longer be hot, so it doesn't cook the eggs) and mix with a spatula, without whisking: too much air would make the filling puff up and then crack. Pour the filling into the pastry case and smooth the surface.
6. Gather up the pastry trimmings, roll them out thinly and cut 7 to 8 strips 1.5 cm wide. Lay them in a lattice over the filling to form diamonds, then seal the ends to the pastry edge by pinching gently.
7. Bake for 1 hr to 1 hr 10 min, until the pastry and lattice are golden brown and the centre is set but still slightly wobbly. If the top browns too quickly, cover it with a sheet of foil halfway through.
8. Switch off the oven and leave the pastiera to rest for 15 min with the door ajar: this gradual cooling stops it cracking. Leave to cool completely, then chill for at least 4 hrs, ideally overnight.
9. Carefully open the springform, dust the pastiera with icing sugar through a small sieve and cut into 8 slices with a knife dipped in hot water. It keeps for 3 days in the fridge, covered with cling film.