Photo: Torta della Nonna (Grandma's Cake) Recipe
Ingredients
Pastry:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg plus 2 yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons sweet butter and 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, melted together
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling:
- 2 cups fresh ricotta (sheep's milk is best)
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 3 eggs
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
To make the pastry, make a well in the flour, and place egg, yolks, sugar, butter and olive oil mixture in the center and proceed as you would with fresh pasta, i.e. bring flour in bit by bit until the liquid in the well is thick enough to bring together with your hands. Knead until the dough is smooth, then allow to rest 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the filling by mixing together the ricotta, pine nuts, sugar, lemon zest, juice and eggs in a bowl until creamy.
To assemble, roll out the pastry to form 2 (12-inch) circles. Place one circle down to line the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pan. Spread the ricotta mixture evenly over this layer. Place the remaining circle of dough over the top and pinch together the edges. Place in the oven to bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove and serve warm or at room temperature with vin Santo from Cappezzana.
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By s.barci_12025296
Paso Robles, CA
on March 31, 2010
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This is absolutely awesomely delicious! Oh my goodness, what wonderful flavor and texture! It is definitely a #1 favorite in our family! Thank you, Mario! Love your show!
By sameerchauhan1_...
Union City, NJ
on November 23, 2009
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This has got to be one of our family favorites.
It is soft and light and yummy overall.
The only point (which someone else has noted is that quantities listed for the Pastry does not make enough to go with the filling. Definitely make about 1 1/2 - 2 times the quantity to have enough pastry to go both under and over the filling.
Delicioso!!
By gailclark_915179
Dumont, NJ
on September 06, 2009
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It was OK, but just OK. I?ve had it at restaurants and what I made does not compare. First off, the dough wasn?t easy to work with. (I?m pretty much a pastry novice though It kept breaking apart and there wasn?t enough dough to cover the bottom and top layers. Later on, I noticed other recipes for Torta della Nonna called for 3 c. flour and I think that would have yielded a more sufficient amount. Next time I would 1.5 X?s the pastry recipe. Better too much than too little. But as I said, this dough was hard to work with.
The cake took longer to bake in my oven, by about 15 minutes. It started off, very loose and liquidy. In the end, my family said it was good, but also has too much of an eggy taste.
Read all 6 reviews