Preparation

Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Combine the ricotta, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and beat well.
Lay a sheet of filo on a work surface and brush with melted clarified butter. Top with another sheet brushed with butter. Repeat until you have used all the sheets (there should be some butter remaining).
Sprinkle the breadcrumbs evenly over the pastry. Spoon the cheese mixture along one long edge, leaving a small border. Top with the cherries and sprinkle with the almonds. Fold in the ends of the pastry and roll up, enclosing the filling. Brush the edge with butter to stick it down. Place on the tray and brush the top with the remaining butter.
Bake for 15 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 180°C and bake for a further 5 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and deep golden. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before dusting heavily with icing sugar, slicing and serving.

Ingredients

  • 125 g full-cream ricotta, drained for 1–2 hours
  • 125 g cream cheese, softened
  • 3 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 5 filo pastry sheets
  • 80 g clarified butter (ghee), melted
  • 2 tbsp dry breadcrumbs
  • 680 g jar sour (morello) cherries, drained
  • 1 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted
  • icing sugar