Valentine's Day Sweet: Crostata di Ricotta

Yesterday morning, the day before Valentine's Day, I awoke to find Bill already gone to work and a note stuck in the handle of my coffee mug that read, "Belle, for Valentine's Day, please, please, please choose one of these desserts."  Under my mug was a sheaf of battered xeroxed pages from a cookbook, Italy - The Beautiful Cookbook, that he's obviously had for years.

I flipped through the pages and was tempted by such recipes as Torta di Meliga (Cornmeal Cake), Crostata di Crema (Lemon Cream Tart), and Polenta Dulce (Sweet Polenta).  However, since it IS Valentine's Day, chocolate is a must, so I chose the following recipe.  I made some mistakes along the way, which I'll share, but still recommend you try this - if you have at least a half a day of free time.

Crostata di Ricotta
Ricotta Pie

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup superfine sugar
3 oz butter (melted?)
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup superfine sugar
2 TBSP all purpose flour
1 cup milk
3 oz. semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup maraschino liqueur (I didn't have this, but I did have a large jar of maraschino cherries, so I used the juice from those)
8 oz ricotta
pinch of ground cinnamon
grated rind of 1 lemon
reserved egg white, beaten

1.  For the pastry, combine 2 1/2 cups flour, 3 egg yolks, 1/3 cup sugar and the butter and mix into a dough.  Form into a ball, cover with plastic and let rest in the refrigerator while preparing the filling. (Here's where things went awry and why I think, perhaps, the butter should be melted.  Lacking direction from the recipe, I proceeded as with all pie crusts - cutting the butter into the dry ingredients, then adding the 3 yolks, which was in no way enough liquid to form anything resembling a dough.  I'm truly stumped here - so if anyone knows for sure about melting the butter, please let me know.  What I did at this point was to add splashes of milk until I got the right consistency.  Of course, I added too much milk and adjusted by kneading in more flour.  It all turned out o.k. in the end, but I was completely frustrated!)
2.  For the filling, beat 3 egg yolks with 1/3 cup sugar until light.  Add 2 TBSP flour and the milk and cook the mixture in a double boiler over simmering water until thick.  (Note:  since it doesn't say HOW thick, I went by the standard, "does it coat the back of a spoon" test.)  Melt the chocolate with the maraschino.  Stir into the egg mixture and let cool completely.
3.  Put the ricotta through a sieve.  Gradually stir in the cooled custard, cinnamon and lemon rind.  Mix well and set aside for 10 minutes.
4.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Butter and flour a 10" pie pan.  Roll out 3/4 of the pastry dough in a circle and line the pan with it.  Pour in the prepared filling and roll out the remaining dough into a circle to cover the top.  Crimp edges together.  Brush the top of the pie with a little beaten egg white and bake for 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown.  Let cool before serving. (Since it was Valentine's Day, I cut a heart out of waxed paper to make a stencil, placed the stencil over the pie and dusted with powdered sugar).

Notes & Variations:  Consider decorating with slivered almonds or pine nuts.  Also, I think I may do away with the persnickety crust altogether and serve the chilled filling in cups with whipped cream - sort of an Italian Pots de Creme.  I might even try various liqueurs, such as:  Amaretto, Frangelico or Kirsch.