A classic sweet whose origins date back to the Middle Ages,  a zonchiada is a ricotta tart which takes its name from giuncata, a ricotta-style cheese.

This recipe comes from food writer Laura Zavin’s new cookbook Venice Cult Recipes, which features 100 dishes that seek to “conjure up the real Venice”.

Featuring beautiful glossy photos, the book also shares recipes for Venetian drinks, as well as advice and maps for guided walks around the Italian city’s cafes, restaurants, food markets and wine cellars.

This zonchiada (ricotta tart) recipe makes about a dozen tarts and takes around 40 minutes to prepare, plus an hour (or overnight) pastry resting time.

Ingredients

50g raisins
185ml (¾ cup) dry Marsala, or rum
500g ricotta cheese
2 organic eggs
100g organic raw (demerara) sugar
40g butter, melted, plus extra for greasing tins
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Grated zest of 1 organic lemon
50g candied citron, diced

Shortcrust pastry
250g organic plain (all-purpose) flour
120g butter, softened and cut into small pieces
2 organic egg yolks
80g organic raw (demerara) sugar
2 pinches of ground cinnamon
2–3 tablespoons dry Marsala or water

Method

To make the pastry: Sift the flour onto your work surface and, using your fingertips, rub in the butter to make a coarse crumbly mixture. Make a well in the mixture and add the egg yolks, then the sugar, a pinch of salt, the cinnamon and Marsala or water.

Combine all the ingredients using your fingertips and bring the dough together without working it too much. Form a ball and flatten it to 3cm (1¼ inches), wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (you can also make it the day before).

Work the pastry again for 30 seconds when you take it out to soften it and then roll it out on a floured work surface. Line a tray of buttered and floured tartlet moulds (or a 22–24cm spring-form cake tin) with the pastry, prick the bases with a fork and set aside for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 160C (315F/Gas 2-3).

Place the raisins and Marsala in a bowl and set aside for 20 minutes. Mix the ricotta with a spatula until smooth. Incorporate the eggs, sugar, melted butter, cinnamon, lemon zest, citron, raisins and Marsala. Pour this mixture into the pastry case(s).

Using your fingers, push down the edges of the pastry to the level of the filling.

Cook in a hot oven for about 40 minutes for individual tartlets or 1 hour for a large tin.