Nicolina's Favorite Cheesecake
© Spirit Media 2004-2008 All Rights Reserved
This is my mother's favorite dessert, and I think it's pretty fitting. The reason it's so good is it's half ricotta cheese and half good old cream cheese. We took the best from the Old and New Worlds, so this is the most truly Italian-American recipe in this book, in that sense.
Crust:
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter
½ cup sugar
1 pinch salt
2 tsp lemon zest (about ½ lemon)
½ cup potato starch
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
1 pound Philadelphia cream cheese
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup marsala wine
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt (heaping)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
5 extra-large eggs
1 ½ cups ricotta
1. Cream the butter, suar, and salt. Add the lemon zest. Add the potato starch and flour. Mix to combine thoroughly. The dough should come together quickly in an electric mixer. Push it into a ball and wrap it tightly in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven 400° F. Remove the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll it out thin into a circle, about 14 inches in diameter. Line a 10-inch pie plate and crimp the edges. Trim any excess dough. Place a sheet of heavy-duty tin foil in the pie shell and weight it down with dried loose beans or pie weights. Bake the piecrust for 15 minutes, just until it loses its raw look and takes on a tiny bit of color, but doesn't brown. Remove the tin foil and weights and allow the crust to cool to room temperature, about 15-20 minutes. Lower the oven heat to 325F.
While the piecrust is cooling, make your filling. Whip the cream cheese and sugar. Add the marsala and stir to combine. Add the flour, salt, and vanilla. Combine. Add the eggs one at a time, allowing each to be incorporated into the mixture before the next is added. Stir in the ricotta till the mixture is uniform.
When the piecrust has cooled, pour the filling into the pie shell and bake for 45 minutes. The filling should be set and just slightly wobbly in the very center. The top should be golden brown.
Yield: Serves about 10
Published: 01/26/06
© Spirit Media 2004-2008 All Rights Reserved
