Jam Filled Ricotta Pastries – Little Big H

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I love to make my own pastry and when I came across this recipe in one of my favourite cookbooks I couldn’t wait to try it out.  It is very simple and sugar-free.  I have added a little orange blossom water because the combination of that with the strawberries is heavenly.  

The only sugar in these jam filled ricotta pastries comes from the strawberry jam filling which adds a lovely sweetness, but if you were after an even healthier option, you could use fresh fruit in place of the jam or possibly a sugar-free chia jam?  Both would work well.

Not really looking for a healthy treat!  What about adding a few square of good quality dark chocolate instead? Yum…

They are best serve on the day of making but an option would be to make the pastry a day or so in advance and keep it in the fridge until you are ready to roll out and bake on the day.  

These jam filled ricotta pasties are based on one of my favourite cookbooks called Twelve by Tessa Kiros – a Tuscan cookbook.  I have made so many of the recipes and they all work out well.  

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  • 200 g (7oz) butter; softened
  • 300 g (10 1/2oz) fresh ricotta cheese
  • 300 g (10 1/2oz) plain all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 1 tablespoon orange blossom water
  • pinch of salt
  • Strawberry jam
  • *optional – icing sugar to dust on top
  • Add the butter and ricotta to a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Add the sifted flour, baking powder, vanilla essence, orange blossom water and a pinch of salt. Tip out onto a bench and knead together with your hands until the mixture comes together into a soft ball of pastry. (If not wanting to do it by hand, I have made this recipe in my Kitchenaid with a dough hook attached, it works out perfectly)
  • Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.
  • Pre-heat oven to 180 C/350 F. Roll out pastry with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, to a thickness of about 3mm, and into 10cm (4inch) squares.
  • Put a heaped teaspoon of strawberry jam in the middle of each square and pinch the opposite ends together with a little water.
  • Line an oven tray with baking paper and bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm or cold, and dust with icing sugar if using.

If the pastry feel a little wet just give the bench and your hands a good dust before rolling out it out.
Why not alternate the flavours and try strawberry jam, apricot jam, fresh fruit or even chocolate. It’s a great excuse to try all the flavours 🙂 Adapted from Twelve – a Tuscan cookbook by Tessa Kiros