Rice pastiera is a delicious variant of the classic Neapolitan pastiera, with a rice-based filling instead of cooked wheat.
A delicious shortcrust pastry shell with a creamy filling of ricotta and rice, irresistible with every bite, perfect for Easter holidays.
Read how to make the rice pastiera with the easy recipe you find below, as usual, right after the photo 😉
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Easter, Spring
Ingredients for the rice pastiera
- 1.9 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 8.5 tbsp butter
- 1 egg
- lemon zest (grated from one lemon)
- 1 pinch baking soda
- 3/4 cup Arborio rice
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3.5 tbsp butter
- lemon peel (from one lemon)
- 2 tbsp orange flower water
- 1 cup ricotta
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
Tools
- 1 Cake Pan 24 cm Pastiera Mold
Preparation of the rice pastiera
Prepare the shortcrust pastry.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, grated lemon zest, and a pinch of baking soda.
Add the softened butter cut into pieces and start kneading until you get a crumbly dough.
Add the egg and knead firmly until your dough is smooth and homogeneous.
Form a dough ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour.In the meantime, focus on the rice cream.
Put the milk, the peel of a lemon, orange flower water, sugar, and butter pieces in a saucepan and heat it. When it boils, add the rice and let it cook over low heat for about half an hour, until it thickens, then turn off and let it cool.Then prepare the ricotta cream.
Sift it into a bowl, add the sugar, and mix everything with a spatula. Also, add the eggs and mix until you get a homogeneous cream.
Incorporate the rice cream (removing the lemon peel).Take the shortcrust pastry and roll it out to a thickness of less than half an inch.
Butter a pastiera mold or a 9.5-inch diameter cake pan and line the bottom and edges with the pastry, cutting away the excess.
Prick the bottom with a fork, pour in the ricotta and rice cream, and level it.
Cut strips from the remaining pastry and place them over the filling, then press the edges of the pastiera with a fork.
Bake it in a preheated static oven at 350°F for an hour.
Remove from the oven and let your rice pastiera cool completely before removing it from the mold.
Notes
Like any dessert of this type, rice pastiera enhances in flavor if left to rest for at least a day before enjoying.
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