Lemon Cheese Tart

This is an amazingly light dessert....lemony and delicious. Simple to make and not too sweet either. So refreshing for a summer dessert. I made the pastry from scratch, but really, if you're in a big hurry, use packaged. I'm all for shortcuts in the summer. Last thing we want to do is be stuck in the kitchen. You can make this ahead and refrigerate if you like, but it's awfully yummy warm.

Lemon Cheese Tart
From Pastry Studio

Ingredients for the pastry dough:
1 cup flour
2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 ounces cold butter
1/4 cup cold water

Ingredients for the lemon cheese filling:
5 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
5 ounces ricotta
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2  teaspoons lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
pinch salt
1 egg, room temperature

1/2 tablespoon butter, melted
sugar for sprinkling

Method:
For the pastry:  place the flour, sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor and blend.  Cut the cold butter into 1/2" pieces and add to the flour mixture.  Pulse until the butter is the size of small peas, about 5 seconds.  Add the cold water and pulse until the dough starts to clump, about 10 seconds.  The dough will look a bit like small curd cottage cheese.  Gather the dough and place on a sheet of plastic wrap.  Form a disc and wrap tightly.  Chill thoroughly.

For the filling: whisk together the cream cheese, ricotta, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest.  Add a pinch of salt, to taste.  Whisk in the egg.  Chill the filling while you roll out the pastry dough.

Unwrap the dough and let it rest on a lightly floured piece of parchment or work surface for just a few minutes.  It needs to stay cool but warm up just enough to handle without a lot of resistance and cracking.

Roll the dough out to about an 11" square and 1/8" thickness, gently lifting and moving the dough after each roll and keeping it lightly floured as needed.  When you have the desired size, trim the edges and brush off any excess flour.  Fold it in half and then again in half.  Center the folded corner of the dough in a 9" square tart pan or baking pan.  Unfold it and work it into the corners, leaving an overhang on all four sides.  Pour the filling into the tart and spread it evenly.  Gently fold the pastry overhang onto the surface of the tart. 

Chill the tart while you preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Brush the border of the dough with melted butter and dust with a light sprinkle of sugar.  Bake for 25 minutes and then increase oven temperature to 400 degrees.  Bake an additional 10 minutes until the dough is crisp and browned.  Place on a wire rack to cool completely.