Savoury tart with Rossini cheese

AICI – Associazione Insegnanti di Cucina Italiana

Recipe by Rosella Mengozzi

(for 12 people) FOR THE SHORTCRUST PASTRY : 400 g Italian ‘00’ flour 200 g cold butter 200 ml cold water (approx.) salt, to taste FOR THE FILLING : 800 g red ‘radicchio’ from Chioggia 150 g Rossini cheese 2 large, firm pears 50 g butter red pepper in grains, to taste salt, to taste extra virgin olive oil, to taste breadcrumbs, to taste

Rub the flour with the diced butter and make a breadcrumb-like mixture, add a pinch of salt and then slowly pour in the cold water. Make a dough, cover with cling film and leave to stand in a cool place for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, wash the radicchio well and drain it. Cut into strips. Sweat the radicchio in a pan with a spoonful of oil and a little butter for a few minutes, add salt and leave to cool.
Wash and peel the pears and cut them into small cubes. Sauté immediately in a pan with a little butter and some oil. When cooked, add the red pepper and salt and leave to cool.
Dice the Rossini cheese, add to the Radicchio and mix. Roll out 2/3 of the pastry and use it to cover the base and the sides of a 26-28 cm cake tin. Sprinkle some breadcrumbs over the base, then pour over half of the radicchio and Rossini followed by a layer of pear cubes and top with the rest of the radicchio and cheese mixture. Roll out the rest of the pastry to form a disc shape and cover the mixture. Prick with a fork and brush with a mixture of water and oil.
Bake in a hot oven at 180°C, for approximately 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove from the cake tin, lay the tart down carefully on a serving plate and serve after 10 minutes.
The tart can also be served at room temperature.