Greg was always a welcomed part of the Boutté Clan when he lived in New Orleans. It didn't hurt that he could make some of the best authentic Italian desserts in town! Here's a little demo of that talent.
Italian Ricotta Cheesecake
Makes 1-9" cake
Submitted By Greg Duva
I grew up in a New York Italian family in the NYC area, and ate this often growing up, before the little Italian-American bakeries in New York City and its metro area started to disappear.
I recently started making it again after my friend Tommy Lavin (himself a very good cook) complained to me of "traditional" American cheesecake recipes being too sweet. When I dusted off this recipe for him, I realized I hadn't made it myself in many, many years, so I started making it myself again. Good choice.
Simple and quick to prepare, the time for this recipe is largely consumed by the baking and then cooling the cake under refrigeration overnight, which it really should be if the texture is to be the best it could be. Enjoy!
Set 2 pounds of ricotta cheese out to get to room temperature.
Whole-milk ricotta is best, but part-skim will work as well. I've found that the cheapest ricotta works the best. If the American industrial brand Polly-O is all you can get, use it, but be aware that it contains an excessive amount of moisture, and you may have to reduce the eggs in the recipe. It's a judgment call you'll have to make.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
For the crust, I like to use 3 slices of fresh sliced bread...pulse the bread in a food processor or crumble between your hands until you get crumbs of the consistency you like. Crumbs do NOT have to be fine if that's not what you dig. Melt about 3 tbsp beurre. Add 2 or 3 tbsp of dark brown sugar to the crumbs in a mixing bowl, a tiny pinch of salt, a shot of fresh, real vanilla and toss to combine evenly. Add the melted butter slowly and mix until the crumb mixture just holds together. You may NOT need to use all the butter. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of a 9" spring form pan. You can press it about 1/2 inch up the sides, but it's not necessary to have much of a side-crust. Place the spring form pan with the crust in the center of a 350 degree oven and bake for 10 mins. Remove and allow to cool while you are preparing the filling.
Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.
Scrape all of the room-temperature ricotta into a large mixing bowl with a rubber spatula. Add 2/3 c of sugar (refined white is fine, but I use organic sugar or turbinado sugar), 1 tsp sea salt, 1 tbsp of fresh vanilla, 1/3 cup Amaretto di Saronno, and the zest of 1 lemon, and use a heavy whisk to combine, being careful to make sure the mixture is smooth and free of lumps.
**You can also use a small amount (1 teaspoon or less) of ground cinnamon as flavouring. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Alternatively, if you can find a good, pure cinnamon oil, you can add a drop or three (be careful, it's very strong!) of oil as a flavouring. Experiment, see what you like!
Now, add 5 eggs ONE AT A TIME, mixing thoroughly each time you add another egg. As I noted above, if you're using American industrial ricotta and/or a brand that looks to be very moist, reduce the eggs to 4 in this recipe.
When the mixture looks to be lump-free, add 1/3 farine (All-Purpose flour) and mix well to combine. You don't want to over-mix and develop the gluten in the flour, which will make for a tough and non-tender cake, but do make sure the flour is evenly combined with the ricotta mixture.
Be sure to taste the mixture before you turn it into the prepared crust.
When the ricotta mixture looks to be smooth and lump-free, use a rubber spatula to scrape into the prepared spring form pan. Place into the center of the oven (NO water-bath is necessary), and bake for 35 minutes before rotating completely. Be very careful as you rotate the cake!
Check the cake with the blade of a thin-bladed knife after the second 35 minutes of baking time. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. If not (and this is most likely the case), continue baking for another 10-15 mins. Until knife comes clean.
Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for an hour or so, then place the cake in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
I like to serve some good, fresh wild strawberries made into a sauce of their own juices. To prepare this, top the strawberries (save the tops and leaves to use in strawberry iced-tea) and slice into a mixing bowl. Slice one fresh vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds from the bean (and your fingers) into the strawberries, and dust the top of the strawberries lightly with sugar. Toss GENTLY by hand to combine the strawberries, sugar and vanilla. Lightly dust the top of the strawberry mixture with sugar a second time, and gently toss again. Place the bowl under refrigeration for at least 30-45 mins. To allow the juices to render and combine with the sugar and vanilla. The wild strawberries make their own sauce this way.
Now...
Go, eat
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