No, cassata isn’t the only Sicilian dessert of its kind and although it is a true masterpiece in pastry making, cassate pantesche also deserves its own chapter in the history of Italian cuisine as well as a place among the desserts absolutely worth trying. In dialect it’s called "cassategge", the cassate pantesche are chests of pastry filled with sheep's ricotta cheese, perfect if served warm and accompanied by a good glass of passito wine, Pantelleria, goes without saying!
At one time these cakes were prepared over Easter, and filled with ricotta cheese or a light cream, without eggs, based on milk and wheat starch. Now the demand for these delicacies has meant they can be found in bakeries on the island all year round. You can also prepare them effortlessly at home, so here is the recipe for cassata with ricotta cheese. Wonderful enjoyed at the end of dinner or at any time of the day you feel like a delightful dessert.
Ingredients for cassata pantesche with ricotta cheese
1 lb flour, 4 ½ oz lard, 3 oz brown sugar, water, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 salt intake, 2 egg yolks
For the ricotta
1 lb sheep's milk ricotta, 5 oz brown sugar, 3 oz chocolate chips, 1 pinch of cinnamon
Method
In a bowl, mix the flour with the lard, sugar, yeast and salt. Once you have a uniform mixture, cover it with a cloth and let it rest in a dry place for 4 hours. Then roll out the dough with a rolling pin and with a pastry cutter form circles with a diameter of 10 cm and with these then form baskets that you will fill with ricotta cheese. In the meantime, in a large bowl, mix the ricotta with the sugar, chocolate chips and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Mix and then with this cream fill the baskets, which you will close with another circle of pastry with a diameter of 8 cm. Crush together the edges of the cassate pantesche with your fingers and passing a wet brush along the circumference so that the dough sticks. In a cup beat the two egg yolks and brush the surface of the cassata with it. Then with a small knife make a small cut on the surface of each cassata, so that the pastry doesn’t swell during cooking. Bake the cakes in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 40 minutes.