Pastiera Napolitana Creamy Ricotta Pie Traditional Dessert

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Pastiera Napoletana is a ricotta pie typically baked for Easter. The filling is made with wheat mixed with ricotta and has a distinctive flavor of the flower orange water and lemon zest.

Jump to:

• Pastiera Napoletana: Ricotta Easter Pie
• Why this is the best Pastiera Recipe
• Where to find the right ingredients for the Pastiera
• Ricotta and Italian desserts
• Preparing the Wheat
• Preparing the pastry
• Finishing the filling
• Finishing up the pie
• Baking and serving
• Tips
• Savoury Pie Ideas
• 📋Pastiera Ricotta Pie

Pastiera Napoletana: Ricotta Easter Pie

It is a traditional Eastern dessert for many Southern Italian regions, where ricotta is often used in pastries like in Cannoli Siciliani or Sfogliatelle Napoletane.

If you have Southern Italian descendants, I am sure you are familiar with Pastiera and you might be looking for the recipe. So here is the recipe, just in time for Easter.

You can find different versions of Pastiera, this one is my favorite one. This recipe is from my Uncle's wife Pina, who makes the best desserts I have ever tasted.

She makes a wide variety of desserts, mostly typical from the South of Italy. A fresh homemade flavor but never too sweet.

Often pastries from Southern Italian bakeries tend to be way too sweet for me, like for example the Sicilian Cassata or the Marzapane fruits.

Why this is the best Pastiera Recipe

This Pastiera recipe has the right balance of sweetness, and I even skip the fruit candies, which I would rather replace with dark chocolate chips.

The wheat is specially prepared for this type of pie and gives the filling a texture similar to a creamy rice pudding.

Where to find the right ingredients for the Pastiera

To make this ricotta pie, you need 2 very specific ingredients that you will find only in specialized Italian food shops or on Amazon (affiliate links).

I was very pleased to found out that you can now find on Amazon many typical Italian cooking ingredients.

Even if I live just 1 hour away from the Italian border, it is always handy to have your food delivered to your door.

1. Wheat for pastiera (Amazon affiliate link) specifically prepared for this pie which is sold in jars or cans
2. Orange flowers water (Amazon affiliate link), which you can use in many other recipes.

Ricotta and Italian desserts

Ricotta is a cheese made by re-cooking (ri-cotta in Italian) the serum, called whey, that is left over after the milk has been curdled to make cheese.

Therefore ricotta is a cheese with low-fat content. Usually made from cow's milk, it can also be made from sheep or goat's milk.

In the South of Italy, sheep's milk ricotta is often used to make desserts in substitution of butter or cream.

Delicious ricotta desserts are Cannoli Siciliani, but also Sfogliatella Napoletana, and this traditional Easter Pie Pastiera Napoletana.

Cow milk ricotta is the most common ricotta you find in the supermarkets, it is lighter and perfect for making desserts as it has a milder flavor.

However, the classic Sicilian desserts are made with sheep's milk ricotta, which is not as easy to find outside Italy.

Goat's ricotta is much stronger in flavor and has a higher fat content. It is not a good choice for desserts.

If you can find sheep ricotta use half sheep and half cow ricotta. If you cannot find it you can use cow ricotta only.

Preparing the Wheat

To prepare the wheat you need:

• 1 can wheat for pastiera
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1//2 cup of milk
• 2 tbsp of butter
• 1 lemon zest

1. Bring to boil the wheat with sugar, butter, and the milk
2. Simmer for 10 minutes
3. Move it into a bowl and let it cool down at room temperature

Preparing the pastry

While the wheat cools down you can prepare the pastry. The ingredients are:

• 1 cup - 200 gr sugar
• 4 cups - 500 gr flour
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 2/3 cups - 160 gr butter at room temperature
• 3 eggs

Making the dough

This quantity of dough is enough for a 9 in - 22 cm D / 2.8 in - 7 cm H baking pan with removable bottom.

1. First mix all the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, and baking powder
2. Then add all the wet ingredients and mix until the dough is formed
3. Put the dough on a well-floured surface and cut 1/3
4. Keep 1/3 of the pastry aside for the top
5. Roll the rest of the pastry to make the base of the pie
6. Butter and flour the baking pan

Preparing the base

7. Lay the base of the pie on the baking pan
8. Trim the edges
9. Pierce the pastry with a fork
10. Store in the fridge until the filling is ready

Preparing the top of the pie

1. Cut the remaining pastry into 8 parts
2. Remove the two ends
3. Make 6 strips with each part. The 2 strips in the middle should be slightly longer
4. Keep the rest of the dough aside

Finishing the filling

• 1 lb of ricotta (1/2 lb of cow ricotta and 1/2 lb of sheep ricotta)
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 4 egg whites
• 1 tbsp orange water
• 1 tbsp of cinnamon
• 1/4 candied fruit or chocolate chips (optional)

1. Add all the ingredients for the filling to the wheat (not the egg whites) and
2. Stir until it is all blended
3. Whisk the egg whites until firm
4. Gradually and gently add the egg whites to the filling mixture

Finishing up the pie

1. Pour the filling over the pastry base
2. Cover with the crisscrossing pattern of strips, trim the edges
3. With the remaining dough make a long strip
4. Place it all around the top of the pie
5. With a fork seal the edges

Baking and serving

6. Bake in a hot oven at 355 F - 180C for 1 hour
7. Let it cool down completely before removing it from the pan and serve it

Tips

• Buy the right ingredients, do not substitute the wheat or try to make it yourself, it will not be the same thing
• Get a good fresh ricotta brand
• Keep the pastry cold before you put it into the oven, it will make a nice crunchy crust.
• Let it cool down completely before removing it from the pan and serving it

Savoury Pie Ideas

If you also want to make some savoury pies for Easter, here are some ideas:

• Beef Pie With Marsala Sauce And Mushrooms
• Chicken and Mushroom Pie Recipe
• Chelsea Market Heidi Pie With French Chevre
• Zucchini Mushroom Quiche Recipe
• Caramelized Squash Spinach Bacon Quiche

If you are making this Pastiera Pie for Easter, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.