Pasticciotto Leccese

Ingredients

• 330g plain flour
• 120g lard, softened, plus extra for the tins
• 130g caster sugar, for the pastry
• 1 egg plus 2 yolks, for the pastry
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 extra egg yolk, for glazing
• 500ml whole milk
• 6 egg yolks, for the cream
• 150g caster sugar, for the cream
• 50g potato starch or cornflour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 strip of lemon peel

Before you cook

• Take the lard out of the fridge so it softens fully.
• Grease twelve oval pasticciotto tins, or a twelve-hole muffin tin, thickly with lard.
• Zest one lemon and pare a single wide strip of peel from another.

Steps

1. Beat the lard with the 130g sugar and the lemon zest until pale and creamy.
2. Beat in the whole egg and the two yolks one at a time.
3. Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt until the dough just comes together.
4. Shape the dough into a flat disc, wrap it and chill it for 2 hours.
5. Warm the milk with the strip of lemon peel until it steams, then take it off the heat.
6. Whisk the six yolks with the 150g sugar and the vanilla for 3 minutes, until pale and thick.
7. Whisk in the starch until no lumps remain.
8. Remove the lemon peel and pour the hot milk slowly into the yolks, whisking all the time.
9. Return the mixture to the pan and cook it over a medium heat for 3 minutes, whisking, until it thickens to a firm cream.
10. Pour the cream into a cold tray, press cling film onto its surface and chill it until cold.
11. Roll two thirds of the chilled pastry to 4mm and line the tins, letting the pastry hang over the edges.
12. Fill each tin generously with the cold pastry cream, doming it slightly.
13. Roll the remaining pastry and cut lids to fit.
14. Press the lids on, seal the edges by pinching, then trim away the overhang.
15. Brush the tops with the extra yolk, beaten.
16. Chill the filled tins for 30 minutes.
17. Heat the oven to 180C.
18. Bake the pasticciotti for 22 to 25 minutes, until deep golden.
19. Rest them for 10 minutes, turn them out and eat them while still warm, as they do in Lecce.