What do you do in the days between Christmas and New Year's Eve?

You play boardgames with the family, you eat leftovers and watch a lot of sci-fi movies.

Ok, maybe the last one it's just me.

But surely you know what I mean, the in-between days are always a bit dull. The good thing is, though, that you always have a fridge full of ingredients to cook and bake "so they don't go to waste".

Perfect! Today i had two Ricottas to use and I decided to make something between a crostata (tart) and a cheesecake.

Ricotta is definitely one of my favourite soft cheese, for its taste and its versatility in the kitchen. It's perfect for both savoury and sweet recipes, and its taste doesn't overpower the other ingredients.

My favourite kind is Sheep milk ricotta.

When i was a child my grandfather used to buy them in wicker moulds, fresh out of the cheese factory and they were still warm when he came home.

I'll never forget that gorgeous smell. They were so good we usually had them on plain pasta with just a drizzle of olive oil and some black pepper.

But let me come back to the present days and to the recipe!

First off, here's the ingredients:

Pie crust:

250gr  plain flour

25gr   cacao powder

150gr  butter

125gr  powdered sugar

2      eggs

orange zest

a pinch of salt

Filling:

400gr     Ricotta

3            eggs

50gr      sugar

50gr      honey

30gr      flour

1ts         vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine the sugar and salt. Stir the butter cut into small cubes, into the flour. Gradually add the egg yolks, the cocoa powder, and the orange zest. Mix with your hands or using a kneading machine. Make a ball out of the dough and store it in the fridge for at least one hour.

For the filling,mix the Ricotta with the sugar and the honey, 3 eggyolks, the vanilla extract and the flour. In another bowl, beat the egg whites firm and then add them to the ricotta mix one spoonful at a time.

Roll the dough and cover a pie mold, previously buttered and covered with a thin layer of flour, and blind bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

When the crust is somewhat firm, pour the filling and continue to bake for 30 minutes, or until the filling is golden.

The crust decoration is just a circle of hearts made of the same pie crust. I left some without the cocoa to have it two-toned. I added it on the crust during the second bake, 10 minutes in.

I really hope you enjoyed this recipe and I'll talk to you in 2018.

Happy holidays everyone!!