Paul's [recipe] Corner

Tart from Tuscany the Beautiful Cookbook by Lorenza De’ Medici. Sorbet from me.

Pastry:

1 ¾ cups plain flour
½ cup white sugar
grated zest of ½ a lemon
1/3 cup of butter softened
1 egg

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat together with a wooden spoon until the dough begins to come together in a ball. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap in alfoil and refrigerate for about an hour.

Filling:

1 ¼ cups of ricotta
3 eggs separated
¼ cup sugar

Combine ricotta, egg yolks and sugar in a large mixing bowl and blend well. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until stiff, moist peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the ricotta mixture.

To cook:

Pre heat oven to 180 degree c. Using a nine inch (23cm) tart pan with a removable bottom, grease the bottom with some butter- ½ tbsp. On a lightly floured work surface roll out the dough into a round – about 10 ½ inch (26.5cm) in diameter. Carefully transfer to the prepared pan and press gently against the bottom and sides. Trim the dough even with the rim of the tart pan. Spoon the filling into the pastry shell and smooth the surface. Bake the tart until just golden, about 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Cherry Lambic Sorbet:

½ cup sugar
½ cup water
2 cups of Kreik Lambic
2 egg whites stiffly beaten.

Place sugar and water in a pan, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, with out boiling until sugar dissolves. Bring syrup to the boil, boil for one minute, remove from heat and set aside to cool. Refrigerate over night before using or put into the freezer and chill thoroughly so it can be used in 40 minutes or so.

Combine beer and syrup, fold through beaten egg whites. Pour mixture into running ice cream making machine and churn until the desired consistency is met. Spoon mixture into a container with a lid and put in freezer until you are ready to serve.

Serve a slice of the tart at room temperature with a generous scoop of the sorbet.

# Note – Although it has been diluted by the other ingredients, as the beer is not cooked it retains its alcohol content of approximately 5%..