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.
Ricotta casadetti with red wine-baked peaches
Australian Gourmet Traveller dessert recipe for ricotta casadetti with red wine-baked peaches.
- 15 mins preparation
- 15 mins cooking
- Serves 8
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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
- 1For 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).
- 2Meanwhile, 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.
- 3Meanwhile, 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.