Makes one 9- or 10 inch pie, 12 servings

• CRUST (Pate Sucree):

• 1 1/4 cups (5 1/4 ounces) pastry or unbleached all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon nonfat dry milk (optional, but helpful for browning and tenderness)

• 1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick, 4 ounces) cold butter

• 1 large egg yolk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 tablespoon water

• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind or a few drops of lemon oil

• FILLING:

• 3/4 cup (1 ounce) unbleached all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar

• 2 pounds (4 cups) whole-milk or part-skim ricotta cheese, drained if necessary*

• 4 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/4 teaspoon lemon oil or 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind

1. CRUST: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, then cut in the cold butter. Whisk together the egg yolk, vanilla, and water and stir into the dry mixture; the dough should be crumbly but hold together when squeezed.

2. Roll the dough into a 13- to 14-inch circle. Roll from the center out in firm strokes; don’t overwork the dough. Transfer dough to a 9-inch removable-bottom cheesecake pan, or 9- or 10-inch springform pan. The dough is fragile, so you will probably have to patch up holes and tears that occurred as you were trying to get it into the pan. Don’t worry; these won’t show. Press the dough all the way up the sides of the pan. Place pan in refrigerator to chill while you make filling.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

4. FILLING: In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, ricotta cheese, eggs, vanilla, and lemon oil. Mix slowly but thoroughly; you don’t want to beat air into the filling, but you do want to combine the ingredients well.

5. Remove chilled crust from refrigerator and brush with a bit of milk on bottom and sides. This will help prevent crust from becoming soggy. Pour filling into crust. Place pie on the bottom rack of the oven and bake for 1 hour. Turn oven off and leave pie in oven an additional 30 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely. When cool, remove from pan and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Serve pie at room temperature, or refrigerate if you wish to serve it later.

*Ricotta cheese made with part skim milk is much closer to true Italian ricotta cheese than is whole-milk ricotta. Whole-milk ricotta cheese tends to be “looser” than skim-milk ricotta and should be drained before using, in a yogurt strainer or in a cheesecloth bag, for several hours in the refrigerator.

More Delicious Recipes at: www.SeniorARK.com