This cake I tried in a little caffé in Bronti, the pistacchio capital of Sicily.
I love the crunchy pistacchio crust and the soft, lemony ricotta filling with its chocolate speckles!!

• preheat the oven 170˚
• for the crust:

• 700 gr pistacchio nuts, lightly toasted ( put 100 gr to the side for decoration)
• 150 gr cater sugar
• 2 organic eggs
• zest of 2 organic oranges
• scraped inside of a vanilla pod
• put the above ingredients into your magi-mix and mix until you get a crumbly mass

• butter a 30 cm spring form
• pour in the pistacchio mass and press it down and up the sides of the form

• put the dish in the fridge
• now make the filling:
• 800 gr full cream ricotta
• 150 gr caster sugar
• 2 organic lemons, juice and pith
• 3 organic eggs
• 100 gr dark 70% chocolate, cut into little pieces
• a pinch of salt

• put all the ingredients ( except the chocolate)  in you mixer and mix well
• now fold in the chocolate

• pour the ricotta into the pistacchio base
• bake for 35 – 40 minutes
• let the cake cool
• blitz half the reserved pistacchio until they are the consistency of ground almonds
• cover the remaining nuts with icing sugar

• decorate the ricotta cake the way you like
• you can serve it at room temperature or refrigerated