Crustless
"Sienese" Tart
Take twenty almonds and blanch them thoroughly, and pound them as
fine as possible. Then take half a libra of sugar, twelve eggs, and a fogletta
[about a cup] of milk, two quatani of cinnamon, and the proper amount of
salt, and half a quarto of fresh probatura cheese, pounded until it need
be pounded no more. Then spread a mold with butter, and then flour it,
and put the mixture on top. And set the mold or pan far from the fire,
covered, with a moderate fire. And note that you can put into the mixture
a ladleful of lasagne cooked in good broth. And when it is cooked, put
sugar and rose water on top.
We chose this recipe because it is the only one in any of our sources
to be called "Sienese." Although it is called a tartara, like many pies
and tarts in this Neapolitan collection, it is very similar to a crustless
flan or quiche. We can find nothing like it in the cooking of modern Siena,
and, as we have noted (see recipe 8), provatura cheese comes from southern
Italy.
10 almonds, blanched
scant 1/2 cup (80 g) sugar
6 eggs
1 cup (1/4 liter) milk
2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
a pinch salt
For the topping
3 tablespoons (5 cl) rose water
1 tablespoon sugar
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees
C).
Grind the almonds in a clean spice or coffee grinder, or in a blender,
together with the sugar and cinnamon. Place the ground almonds and sugar
into a bowl; beat in the softened cheese, then the eggs one by one, and
the milk. Taste the mixture and add salt as needed.
Butter and flour a 6-inch (15-cm) soufflé dish
or other ovenproof mold, and pour in the mixture. Bake for about 45 minutes
and set aside to cool.
When cool, you may unmold it (carefully: it is fragile)
or serve it from the dish. Before serving, sprinkle with sugar and rose
water.
The Medieval Kitchen
Recipes from France and Italy
by Odile Redon, Françoise Sabban, &
Silvano Serventi
