Italian Easter tart with pears and white chocolate sauce

Place whole wheat in a saucepan, cover with water and simmer for 20 minutes. Set aside to completely cool in the water (I do this the night before).

Lightly grease a deep 25cm tart tin. Roll out one block of pastry and line the tin. Prick the pastry base with a fork then place in the fridge to chill.

Drain the wheat and return to the saucepan. Add the milk, 1 Tbsp of the caster sugar and the 2 pieces of lemon peel. Simmer very gently until all the milk has been absorbed (around 40 minutes). Discard lemon peel and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 170°C fanbake. Mix together ricotta, remaining sugar, remaining zest and candied peel then add egg yolks one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Stir in the cooled wheat and pine nuts.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff then gently fold into the wheat and ricotta mixture.

Spoon mixture into the tart case and smooth surface with the back of a spoon. Roll out the remaining block of pastry and cut into 2cm-wide strips. Use strips to make a lattice pattern over the top of the tart, leaving a few slight gaps between strips. Pinch edges to seal around the rim and trim edges neatly.

Bake in centre of oven for around 1 hour or until the top is golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

To poach pears, place the sugar, lemon zest and juice and water in a saucepan big enough to fit the pears and simmer until sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat and lower in the pears. Simmer gently for around 10 minutes or until pears are slightly tender. Set aside to cool in the lemon syrup until required.

For the white chocolate sauce, place cream, butter and chocolate in a bowl. Microwave on high for 50 seconds then let sit for 2 minutes (or melt in a double boiler over simmering water). Add vanilla and gently stir to incorporate.

排水梨和修剪的基地,这样他们就可以stand upright. When ready to serve, nestle pears on top of tart (or serve them on the side). Decorate with sliced candied citrus peel if desired and drizzle with white chocolate sauce (gently warm it first if it has cooled).