To begin, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with baking spray or butter it. Set aside for now.
In your food processor, combine the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, powdered sugar, and salt. Add to those the zest of a lemon – about a tablespoon.
Cut the cold butter into pieces. Drop the butter into the food processor with the dry ingredients. Pulse these together until it us evenly crumbly like coarse cornmeal.
Press this into the bottom of your paper lined baking dish.
Bake for 20 minutes or until it is just lightly golden on the edges.
While it is baking, beat the eggs in a mixing bowl until frothy. In a small dish, combine the flour and sugar.
To the eggs, add the ricotta cheese along with the sugar & flour. Beat those together until they are smooth.
Zest another lemon.
Juice the zested lemons, along with another lemon or two – enough to give you a half cup of fresh strained lemon juice.
Add the zest, lemon juice, salt, and vanilla to the mixing bowl. Stir until combined.
When the timer goes off for your crust, turn the temperature down to 325 degrees.
Give the filling a quick stir and pour over the hot crust. Put this back in the oven for another 20-25 minutes or until the center is no longer “jiggly.”
Let the bars cool in the pan until room temperature and then refrigerate for a hour.
Remove the chilled lemony goodness from the pan by lifting it out with the parchment paper. Cut into bars and serve.