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Ricotta casadetti with red wine-baked peaches

Australian Gourmet Traveller dessert recipe for ricotta casadetti with red wine-baked peaches.

By Lisa Featherby
  • 15 mins preparation
  • 15 mins cooking
  • Serves 8
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Ricotta casadetti with red wine-baked peaches
Ricotta goes really well with peaches. The trick is to use a well-drained full-fat ricotta. If it's too moist it can make the pastries soggy, so drain it in a muslin-lined sieve for a few hours. These little fried pastries are light and delicious, but if you prefer, serve the peaches simply with a wedge of fresh ricotta to the side.

Ingredients

  • 200 gm (1 1/3 cups) plain flour
  • 1 egg
  • 15 gm softened butter
  • 60 ml Marsala
  • 2½ tbsp caster sugar
  • 370 gm ricotta
  • 1 lemon, finely grated rind only
  • For deep-frying: vegetable oil
  • For dusting: pure icing sugar, sieved
Red wine-baked peaches
  • 8 ripe yellow peaches
  • 125 ml red wine
  • 110 gm (½ cup) caster sugar
  • 3 fresh bay leaves
  • Rind of 1 lemon, removed with a peeler

Method

Main
  • 1
    For red wine-baked peaches, preheat oven to 220C. Score tops of peaches and fit snugly in a ceramic baking dish. Combine wine, sugar, bay leaves and rind in a saucepan, bring to the boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar, then pour over peaches and bake, basting occasionally, until glazed and warmed through (15 minutes).
  • 2
    Meanwhile, preheat oil in a deep-fryer or deep-sided saucepan to 180C. Beat flour, egg, butter, Marsala, 1½ tbsp caster sugar, a pinch of salt and 40ml water (or enough to form a soft dough) in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle until combined and smooth (2-3 minutes), then divide into eight pieces. Roll each piece on a lightly floured surface to a 5mm-thick round, dusting with flour if dough is sticky, and set aside until required.
  • 3
    Meanwhile, combine ricotta, lemon rind and remaining caster sugar in a bowl. Place a tablespoon of ricotta mixture in centre of pastry rounds, spreading slightly. Fold pastry over to form a semicircle, pinch edges to seal. Trim excess pastry and deep-fry in batches until golden (2-3 minutes), drain on absorbent paper, dust with icing sugar and serve warm with warm red wine-baked peaches.