Sunny Sardinian citrus & ricotta tarts

These little tartlets, always perfumed with citrus and occasionally also with saffron, are a traditional sweet made all over Sardinia. Semola is finely ground durum wheat flour, sometimes labelled as semolina flour or semolata.

MAKES 16-20 small tarts PREPARATION TIME 40 minutes, plus resting

COOKING TIME about 15 minutes

FOR THE PASTRY

30g lard or butter

200g semola

100g 00’ or plain flour

FOR THE FILLING

2 medium egg yolks

Grated zest 1 orange and 1 lemon 70g white granulated sugar 500g ricotta, drained well

1tsp orange blossom water, optional ½tsp vanilla extract

60g 00’ or plain flour

FOR THE GLAZE ICING

250g icing sugar, sifted 2-3tbsp lemon juice Sprinkles, to decorate, optional

1 Make the pastry. In a bowl, rub the lard/butter into semola and flour with your fingertips until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add 120ml warm water and a pinch of salt and knead well to form a smooth dough. You will need to knead for a good 10min or so. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and allow to rest for at least 1hr.

2 Using a pasta machine (or using a rolling pin), roll out the pastry to around a 2mm thickness. Cut out 16-20 circles (using a pastry cutter or upturned glass of your choice) and put them on 2 baking sheets lined with baking parchment. Re-roll trimmings as needed to use up all the pastry.

3 Preheat oven to 170°C (150°C) mark 3). For filling, mix egg yolks with zests and sugar in a bowl and beat well. Add ricotta along with orange blossom water (if using), vanilla and a pinch of salt, then mix well until you have a smooth paste.

4 Add flour and mix again to form a smooth batter. Spoon mixture into centre of each round and pinch the edges to form a star/sun shape. Smooth tops using the back of a wet teaspoon, or a wet finger.

5 Bake in the oven for 10-15min, until golden. While the tarts are cooling, make the glaze. Beat together the icing sugar and enough of the lemon juice so that it is smooth and creamy. Spread each tart with the glaze and cover with sprinkles, if using. These are better if eaten a few hours later, after the flavours have settled.