Ricotta and baby pear tart from Acquacotta

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There’s always something strange about crossing the equator and being propelled into the opposite hemisphere, season and time zone. I tried to explain it to my four year old while we were on the long plane ride from Italy to Australia a couple weeks ago: it’s like the land of opposites – when it’s night here, it’s day there, when it’s winter here, it’s summertime there. She seemed to think that sounded fine, especially the summertime part.

It’s taken about a week to get completely adjusted (after a few torturous wake up calls by a jetlagged child at 3am) and it’s amazing how, from winter, walking right into an Australian heatwave I seemed to have needed to thaw out and rather enjoyed what I’d normally complain about. There’s another heatwave headed to Sydney this week and I’m reverting back to my summertime cooking procedure, a must for surviving the long, hot, humid, non-airconditioned summers that Tuscany also has. The plan is this: no turning on the stove during the daylight hours (this is also the time to keep all those shutters drawn, so as not to let the pesky sun into the apartment). Living off summer fruit, gelato, granita (particularly this one), salads and leftovers cold from the fridge. Cooking, only as a necessity, at night when things cool down.

I generally don’t bake during a heatwave, but sometimes on a bearable night, I leap at the chance to make a tart or a cake that can be enjoyed throughout the week or for a special occasion. This tart is one is one of those.

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It’s made with baby pears, known as pere coscia, that can be found in the summertime in the markets in Tuscany. Yellow-skinned, a little firmer than regular pears, but ripe and sweet, they make great child-sized snacks that cause minimal mess, which is one of the many reasons we love them.

It’s a very simple dessert, not overly sweet and pretty enough to present to guests. The whole baby pears are briefly poached in water with a squeeze of lemon juice until just tender but not too soft. The pie dish is layered with the shortcrust pastry dough and smooth ricotta filling and the poached pears are carefully pushed one by one into the filling. Once baked, it’s best when left to settle overnight in the fridge and eaten the next day, chilled, in the summer, and room temperature otherwise.

The recipe comes from my new cookbook, Acquacotta, a book that celebrates a beautiful corner of southern Maremma. These photographs above of our adopted home, Porto Ercole, were taken for it. I’m a little bit old fashioned so I took these with film (not all of the location shots were taken with film, but many were, for the colour and the feel that you can only get with film. I used Kodak Portra 400 35mm film mostly and they were scanned by the lovely people at Carmencita Film Lab in Valencia, Spain). I developed and tested most of the recipes for the cookbook during the summer of 2015 when we lived in Porto Ercole, Tuscany’s longest, hottest summer in living memory. It was so hot, we didn’t leave the house except before 9am or after 6pm and laying low and cool was a priority so the oven never went on. Except for this tart.

I’m about to launch my cookbook and if you’re in Melbourne, Sydney or Canberra I’d love to see you! I will be at Books for Cooks in Melbourne on the evening of February 28 for a talk, some nibbles and wine, at the Canberra wine bar-bookshop Muse on March 5 in conversation with the wonderful Barbara Sweeney from Food & Words, then again at Potts Point Bookshop in Sydney on March 8 for a similar event with Barbara again. I will be adding on a picnic event in Canberra too.

See my events page for more details and the links for booking.

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Crostata di ricotta e pere coscia (Ricotta and baby pear tart)

If you can’t find baby pears, you can of course use regular pears, though you’ll have to peel and slice them. Choose firm rather than ripe pears, which hold their shape better. Peel and slice into quarters and remove the core (if they are particularly large pears, you can slice into eighths). Slide them into a saucepan of simmering water with 50 grams (¼ cup) sugar to add a touch of sweetness to them. Cook for 15 minutes or until they are just tender. Remove pears and let drain/cool. Use them as described in the recipe but arrange them in a radiating pattern in the crostata. If you’re looking to use other summer produce, this also works nicely with uncooked, halved and seeded apricots or plums or whole fresh figs.

Recipe edited slightly from my cookbook, Acquacotta, published by Hardie Grant Books and released in Australia, UK and the US in March, 2017.

Makes one tart – serves 8

For the pastry:

  • 250 grams of flour
  • 120 grams of caster sugar
  • 125 grams of cold butter, chopped
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

For the filling:

  • 500 grams of ricotta
  • 120 grams of caster sugar
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence (or scraped seeds of half a vanilla pod)
  • 2 eggs
  • 7 baby pears, peeled and poached until just tender
  • powdered sugar, optional

Combine the flour sugar and butter together in a bowl and rub together with fingers until there are no more visible pieces of butter (or you can pulse in a food processor). Add salt and egg plus yolk and combine until it comes together into a smooth ball. Place in fridge to rest 30 minutes then roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 3mm thick. Lay over a pie dish (about 22cm diameter) and trim the borders (you can freeze any leftovers or roll them out and cut out shapes like sugar cookies). Prick the surface gently all over with the tines of a fork.

To make the filling, combine all the ricotta, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla and eggs and mix until smooth. Pour over the dough-lined pie dish and smooth over. Carefully push the cooked pears (or other fresh fruit) into the ricotta filling then bake at 180ºC for 45 minutes or until the top is firm and slightly coloured golden brown and the pastry crust golden.

Let cool completely before serving (as mentioned above, I recommend baking this at night and letting it cool overnight, chilled in the fridge before serving) and, if you like, sprinkled with some powdered sugar – this will mostly sink into the surface of the ricotta and the pears so you won’t see much of it but it will add a hint of sticky sweetness. Store this tart in the refrigerator and eat within 3 days.

Comments

  1. A beautiful recipe. I look forward to seeing you in Canberra very soon x

  2. Giulia says:

    This recipe has fascinated me since I saw the photo. Claudia used to love this baby pears, perfect size for a baby, and we still love them nowadays. Excited for the book launch! xx

  3. Rosemarie says:

    Can I just say your photo of the tart made my day? I simply cannot wait to bookmark this recipe in your new book for summer. We always have a glut of these pears in the countryside and my husband is a big fan of crostate in all their forms. I also have a try to turn on the oven as less as possible rule in summer but I’d gladly make an exception for this gorgeous tart. Thanks also for linking to the film lab in Spain, I’m going to start using my Dad’s old Canon SLR very soon now!

  4. Sophia says:

    Emiko this is stunning and pear and ricotta is such a dreamy combination. Really looking forward to seeing your new book as well – I spent several summers in that corner of Italy and adore it!

  5. Simeon Mowle says:

    Hi Emiko

    I love reading your blog and can’t wait for your new cookbook, loved the first one, this one looks really interesting. So much so my wife is taking me there for my fortieth this year. Will your book have a things to do, places to stay or is focuses more on cooking?

    • Emiko Davies says:

      Great question, I write about certain places in my book but there’s no address book like in Florentine. However, next month I’ll have a travel piece in Gourmet Traveller mentioning all my favourite dining options in Monte Argentario and nearby, so look out for that (it should be available online too, I believe). I also have a few guides on my blog for the area – look at the post on the Gastronomic Guide to Porto Ercole, the one on Il Baciarino for a place to stay and the one on Giglio Island.

  6. Jo Penn says:

    Hello Emiko! Remember me? We made contact through a certain travel website and met up a few years ago when you were living in Florence where you introduced me to Volpi e l’uva (a place I still regularly visit when in Florence). I was so excited to hear about your new book and have pre-ordered it, so I get it straightaway. I was also happy to hear that you are living in Settignano. We come to Florence every year now and during our 2016 trip, we took the bus to Settignano and did that walk to Fiesole. It was tough going as we set off up the steep climb, but once we were up there, it was such an fabulous walk. Wonderful views, spring flowers and butterflies abound, the walk took us through varied habitats and we only passed one other person on the way. It was the highlight of our week’s visit last year. I’ve got to wait until November for this year’s visit, but only 6 weeks until my next Italian adventure – Napoli and the Amalfi. Your book will no doubt whet my appetite for seafood. I am so impressed with what you have been doing over the last few years – keep it up. Very best wishes Jo

  7. valentina says:

    I’ve followed your work for a while and I really love the gentleness of what you do. I fell in love with this recipe, and I’m making it as I type – it’s in the oven. I should get your book.

  8. The crostata looks great! Can’t wait for the summer to try this one with fresh fruit. Although I’m tempted to add some vin santo when preparing the pears.

  9. Rowena says:

    Hi Emiko – just wanted to stop in to tell you that the tart was excellent! I’m definitely filing this in my keeper list for elegant desserts. Thank you for such a beautiful recipe.

  10. Christine says:

    I just stumbled onto your website and I must say I’m loving reading your posts. And this recipe is absolutely mouthwatering and your photos are simply beautiful, especially the one with the crostata. I love pies. ^_^

    Your writing also has very strong imagery that it makes me wish I could travel to Australia and attend one of your book tours. Congratulations on your new cookbook, by the way. And thanks for sharing this recipe. 😀

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