Pastine di Ricotta e Marmellata

It's a new season and our online cooking club has a new featured cook - Tessa Kiros! If you haven't heard of her yet, you are in for a treat. Her books are gorgeous, as much travelogues and coffee-table works of art as they are delicious recipe books.

We'll be cooking with Tessa for the next six months, you are more than welcome to join us!

This week's cooking club theme is a Welcome one. Party foods are perfect, as are cute little nibblies like these jam-filled turnovers. The pastry is interesting in that you use soft butter, rather than the usual cold to frozen that I am used to with pastry, ricotta is mixed right into the dough, and the dough itself is unsweetened. For the filling, you can use your favourite jam or jams. I used the plum and cardamom conserve that I made a little while back - absolutely perfect in these cute little turnovers.

I hope you join us in getting to know Tessa Kiros better this term, we are already off to a delicious start!

Pastine di Ricotta e Marmellata
adapted from Twelve, by Tessa Kiros
for IHCC *Welcome Tessa!*

Pastry
200 gr unsalted butter, softened by leaving out at room temp for a few hours
300 gr fresh ricotta cheese, drained if quite wet
300 gr all purpose flour
1½ tsp (7.5 ml) baking powder
1 tsp (5 ml) pure vanilla extract

Filling
about 300 gr of your favourite jam or jams

icing sugar for dusting

Mix pastry ingredients together with a wooden spoon: first the cheese and butter and then add the flour, baking powder and vanilla. Knead together into a ball and place in a freezer bag in the fridge for an hour or two or even overnight if you wish.

Preheat oven to 180°C, with a rack in the middle.
On a floured board: roll out pastry. I found this easier to do in two batches. 
Roll to about 3 mm thickness and cut into 8-10 cm squares. I used my pizza roller. 
Pick up each square and place a heaping teaspoon of jam in the middle. Fold over and use a fork to seal the edges.
Place on a silpat or parchment line large baking sheet.
Bake 20 minutes, turn pan around and bake approximately another 10 minutes- until they are lightly golden.
Cool on racks and sprinkle with icing sugar.