Flaó d’Eivissa – cheese and mint tart with anise pastry

Prepare a metal pan with a removable base, 24 cm in diameter, with sides at least 3.5 cm high. Lightly grease it with 5 g of lard; reserve 25 g for the pastry and leave it to soften. The cheese should be mild, without a rind, and easy to mash. Drain only the free liquid from the package and weigh 500 g of cheese, without squeezing it further. Weigh the patted-dry mint leaves and yellow lemon zest. Lightly beat the eggs and measure 50 g for the pastry and 200 g for the filling.

In a bowl, combine 50 g of eggs, 30 g of sugar, 25 g of softened lard, all the olive oil, and the weighed anise liqueur. Add the lightly crushed anise seeds, lemon zest, salt, and all the flour. Knead briefly, just until you have a cohesive dough that can be rolled out. Cover and leave for 15 minutes while you prepare the filling. Measuring the ingredients and kneading will take about 15 minutes altogether.

While the pastry rests, mash the cheese into small lumps with a fork. In another bowl, mix the remaining 200 g of eggs with 250 g of sugar, without whipping them into a fluffy foam. Add the cheese and combine into a thick mixture that is as even as possible. Finely chop all the mint leaves and fold them in with a spatula at the end. Keep the filling pale with green flecks; do not blend the mint. This step takes about 15 minutes. During this time, start preheating the oven to 180°C with top and bottom heat.

Roll out all the pastry between two sheets of parchment paper into a disc about 30–32 cm in diameter and about 3–4 mm thick. Transfer it to the prepared pan, removing the paper, and gently fit it to the base and sides. Form a rim about 3 cm high. Press every overhanging piece into the base or rim rather than discarding it. The paper lets you roll out the dough without extra flour. The crust will bake together with the filling straight away.

Transfer all the cheese, egg, and mint mixture into the unbaked crust and level it with a spatula. The filling will form a layer about 2 cm thick; leave a little space below the pastry rim. Lining the pan and filling it will take about 10 minutes altogether. Put the tart in the fully preheated oven on a rack slightly below the middle.

Bake at 180°C for about 45–50 minutes, until the pastry rim is golden and the filling is clearly set around the sides. The center may jiggle gently as a whole, but it should not ripple like liquid. If the rim browns too quickly, cover it loosely with aluminum foil and finish baking the filling. The filling will firm up further as it cools. The preparation schedule allows 50 minutes for baking.

Place the pan on a rack and leave the tart to cool completely, usually for about 1.5–2 hours. If it is still warm, let it cool longer. Only once the filling is stable, carefully remove the tart from the pan. Before serving, dust the whole surface with the weighed 10 g of powdered sugar and cut into 8 slices. Serve cooled, at room temperature. Allow about 3 hours and 30 minutes in total: 40 minutes of preparation, 50 minutes of baking, and about 2 hours of cooling. The pastry rests and the oven preheats while you prepare the filling and crust.