For the pastry, put the 200g flour and 100g cold, cubed butter into a mixing bowl and using your fingertips lightly rub them until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
Add 75g ground almonds, 75g icing sugar, zest of the lemon and a pinch of salt and mix through.
Make a well in the centre and gently incorporate 3 tbsp cold water a little at a time. Just before the dough comes together, add in 1 egg yolk and 1 tsp vanilla extract and mix through. Turn out the mixture onto a clean work surface and knead lightly just until it forms a ball. Press into a flat circle, wrap in cling film and allow to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Grease a 20cm pie dish, 4cm in depth with a little butter and dust with flour.
Roll out the dough into a circle on a clean, floured work surface, to about 5mm thick.
Transfer the rolled-out pastry to the tin and gently press it into all the sides. Roughly trim off most of the excess but leave some all round the edge of the tin to allow for shrinking. Don’t panic if the pastry breaks a little, just press it together with your fingers and repair any cracks with some of the trimmed pastry. Chill in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Prick the pastry base with a fork, line with some scrunched-up greaseproof paper and pour in baking beans or dried pulses.
Place in the oven for 15 minutes, then remove the greaseproof paper and beans and cook for a further 5 minutes until lightly golden.
Remove from the oven, trim off the remaining excess pastry and set aside on a wire cooling rack.
Separate 3 eggs putting the yolks into a small bowl and the whites into a larger bowl.
For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat together 150g ricotta, 75g mascarpone, 75ml cream, ½ lemon zest, 3 tbsp honey and 3 egg yolks until smooth.
Using an electric hand whisk, whisk together the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Take a large dollop of the egg whites and beat this through the ricotta mixture. Gently fold through the remaining egg whites until just combined.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pastry case and decorate with 25g pine nuts before placing in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until slightly set on the sides but still wobbly in the middle.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for at least one hour. Once cool, serve in generous slices.
Notes
An Italian-inspired dessert, something close to a lighter take on a baked cheesecake. Garnish with a dusting of icing sugar, honey and thyme sprigs.