Ingredients for one tart:250 g plain flour (Italian “tipo 2”)250 g sheep’s milk ricotta150 g butter1 pinch of salt4-5 average size potato1 yellow bell pepper1 red bell pepper150 g fresh pecorino cheese50 g aged pecorino cheese1 clove of garlic50 ml extra virgin olive oil2-3 tbsp Peperotta2 tbsp milk salt and pepper
Put the flour, ricotta, softened butter in pieces (take it out of the fridge at least 20 minutes before) and salt in a bowl. Mix them together with your hands until you obtain a ball of dough, then put in the fridge to rest for about half an hour, covered with a cotton cloth.
In the meanwhile, wash and clean the peppers, removing the seeds and internal membranes, and then cut them into small pieces. Wash and peel the potatoes, then cut them into small pieces. Put the vegetables in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan with the oil and the whole clove of garlic; cook for roughly 20 minutes over a moderate heat, stirring from time to time so they don’t stick. Season with salt and pepper and, when the vegetables are cooked, remove the garlic and leave to cool. Then tip them into a bowl with the Peperotta and stir.
Take the dough out of the fridge and, on a sheet of greaseproof paper, first flatten it with your hands and then with a rolling pin, until you have a disk with a diameter a couple of centimetres larger than the 26 cm tin in which you will bake the tart. Lift the greaseproof paper with the disk of pastry on it and lay them in the tin, making sure that you line the bottom and all around the side (the pastry hanging out over the edge will be folded inwards later). Pour the vegetable filling that you prepared previously on top of the pastry; spread it out over the surface, distribute the fresh pecorino cut in cubes on top, and finish off with a sprinkling of the grated aged cheese. Fold the edge of the pastry in over the filling and brush with milk. Bake in a preheated oven, at 200 °C, for 20 minutes.
This tart is rustic, simple and extremely tasty: you can serve it as an appetizer, but also as a one course meal accompanied by a salad or raw vegetables. It’s good straight out of the oven, warm or even cold... if there’s any left-over!