Grape Ricotta Crostata

Put the ricotta in a sieve and place the sieve over a bowl. Let it hang out in the fridge for a couple of hours, or overnight. You can put something like a small bowl on top of the ricotta to weigh it down to speed up the process. Alternatively, you could use cheesecloth to drain the ricotta.

Put the drained ricotta, sugar, egg and lemon zest in a large bowl.

Stir until smooth.

Refrigerated until ready to use.

Put the grapes, sugar and lemon juice in a large saucepan.

Simmer on medium/low heat for 10 minutes, stirring continuously. You'll notice that the grapes will release a lot of liquid.

When the liquid has reduced by half, take the pan off the heat. Allow it to cool.

Pour the cooled mixture into a food processor and blend for a minute. Return the grape mixture to the pan and simmer on low heat for a couple more minutes or until you have achieved a runny jam-like consistency. Alternatively, you could use an immersion blender or a wooden spoon to muddle the grapes.

Take the pan off the heat. Allow the jam to cool. It will firm up a little more as it cools. Pour the jam into a small jar and refrigerate until you are ready to use it.

Put all of the dry ingredients into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine.

Pour the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Then add the sugar, eggs, lemon zest and butter to the bowl. Mix until the dough comes together.

Shape the dough into a ball.

Cover the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Generously flour a large cutting board. Take the ball of dough out of the refrigerator. Place it on the floured cutting board. Cut off 1/3 of the dough and reserve it for the top of the tart. Flour the top of the dough and roll it out to about 1/2 inch thickness. Use the rolling pin to transfer the dough to a 9 inch tart pan. Remove the excess dough.

Roll out the remaining dough on a floured cutting board for the top of the tart. Use a knife or pastry wheel to cut the dough into 3/4 inch stips. It is important that the pastry strips for the top of the tart are also 1/2 of an inch thick so that the top of the tart cooks at the same rate as the bottom of the tart.

Add a thin layer of grape jam (1/3 cup) to the bottom of the tart shell. (You can add more if you're not adding the ricotta layer).

Then add the ricotta filling. Be sure not to fill the tart shell to the top. Leave a little space as the tart will puff up a little.

Gently top the filling with the halved grapes, cut side down.

Bake for 40 minutes or until the pastry is a golden brown. If you rolled out the pastry to less than 1/2 an inch, it may be ready sooner, so check it at 35 minutes. The cook time will also depend on your oven and the size of your tart pan.