Sweet Shavout Tortelli

"Toward the end of our Odyssey as escapees from the Nazis, my two brother, my sister and myself made a stop at a farm with the usual trepidation; would they give us shelter or turn us into the Fascists? They welcomed us. One of the their children was celebrating First Communion and they were delighted to share the happy event with us. In fact,as if we were part of the family, we helped in the preparations. They had very little sugar, which they had saved from before the war and asked us to make one of our desserts with it. It was near Shavout and we thought of Tortelli Dolci. Some of the ingredients were missing, but they were delicious to anyway or so it seemed to us at the time."

Combine the citron with 1 egg yolk, 3 Tbsp sugar, citron peel, pine nuts and vanilla extract; mix well and set aside in refrigerator. Make a soft dough with the flour, salt, eggs, the remaining egg yolk, ¼ cup sugar, vegetable oil, rum and lemon extract. Knead for 3 minutes, then cover with a clean towel and let rest for five minutes. With a rolling pin, roll very thin. With a cookie cutter or with a glass, cut into disks, about 3 inches in diameter. Place 1 Tbsp of the ricotta mixture over each disk. Fold each disk in half and press the round edge with a fork to seal. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake in preheated oven 400F oven for 15 minutes. Serve before the filling make the pastry become soggy. Yields about 3 Dozen

Your Sweet Shavout Tortelli is ready. Happy cooking!