Erbazzone Dolce – Sweet Tart

(Serves 12)

Ingredients Filling

• 300 gms frozen spinach
• 300 gms ricotta cheese
• 200 gms sugar
• 100 gms ground almonds
• 2 tbsp Sambuca liqueur

Ingredients Pastry

• 150 gms unsalted butter, softened
• 150 gms sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp Sambuca liqueur
• 400 gms self-raising flour

Ingredients Icing (optional)

• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 2 tbsp Sambuca liqueur
• water

Method

To make the filling, defrost the spinach at room temperature then squeeze out as much water as possible and mix with all the other filling ingredients.

To make the pastry, cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl, add the egg yolks, Sambuca and then the flour and work into a soft dough. Line the base and sides of a 23cm round baking tin with non-stick baking paper and, using your fingers, press three-quarters of the dough around the sides and base of the tin (this dough is too soft to roll).

Cover the pastry shell with the ricotta and spinach filling then ease the edges of the pastry towards the centre of the pie. Make thin strips with the remaining pastry and arrange them in a criss-cross pattern over the pie.

Place in the centre of a preheated 180ºC oven for approximately one hour. Allow to cool.

To make the icing, mix the icing sugar with the liqueur, adding a few drops of water if it seems too hard, and spread over the criss-cross pastry pattern. Serve cold with coffee or a glass of sweet wine.

Tip : If you find this cake too “green”, decrease the amount of spinach and increase the amount of ground almonds.