The tagliatelle forms a tangled crunchy topping to this open tart which can be made with any fruit. ‘It’s a lovely dessert with whatever fruit is in season,’ says Nicola. Paolo savours the thought of the torta: ‘It looks lovely and is both chewy and crunchy.’ Ever alert to the regional variety of food from Emilia-Romagna, Valentina says, ‘It’s actually from Bologna.’

Preparation: 90 minutes. Cooking: 35 minutes. You will also need a 22–24cm cake tin.

INGREDIENTS

400g 00 flour
230g sugar
2 tsp dried (instant) yeast
3 eggs
80g butter
1 unwaxed lemon
150g almonds
50g Amaretti biscuits
300g fruit (apples, pears, apricots of your choice)
50ml Amaretto liqueur
Icing sugar as required

METHOD

For the shortcrust pastry, sift 200 g of flour into a large bowl. Add 80 g of sugar and the baking powder. Mix the dry ingredients and create a hole in the center. Crack one egg into the hole and add 80 g of softened, diced butter and the grated lemon zest. Combine the ingredients with your fingertips, working quickly until you have a smooth and homogeneous dough ball. Wrap it in a plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes. Now, prepare the egg pasta: knead another 200 g of flour with the remaining 2 eggs to form a smooth, elastic dough. Let it rest while you coarsely chop the almonds with a knife and crumble the amaretti cookies. In a bowl, combine the almonds, amaretti, the remaining sugar, and the liqueur to moisten the mixture. Peel and dice the fruits.

To assemble the cake, roll out the shortcrust pastry into a disk and use it to line the cake pan, letting it overhang by 2 cm all around to prevent it from sliding down. Prick the bottom with a fork. Meanwhile, roll out the egg pasta with a rolling pin or a pasta machine, dust it with flour, and cut thin tagliatelle noodles with the help of a knife. Divide the pasta into 3 portions. Spread half of the almond and amaretti mixture over the bottom of the cake. Cover it with the fruit, then the tagliatelle noodles, another layer of the almond and amaretti mixture, and another layer of fruit. Dot with small pieces of butter and sprinkle with a little sugar as you create two layers of each ingredient.

Finally, sprinkle the remaining tagliatelle noodles over the top. Bake in the pre heated oven at 170°C (340°F) for about 45 minutes. Once the cake is baked and has cooled, trim any excess pastry from the edges and decorate with powdered sugar. Enjoy!