The Creamy Pastiera-Traditional Recipe.
When it comes to pastiera, like all our traditional desserts, everyone has their tried and tested recipe.
Some add custard to the dough and some don’t, some make it with rice instead of wheat..
I myself, for years, have always made this one
But since curiosity is part of me, I found a version that involves blending some of the wheat cream to then add to the ricotta and everything else. This particular attention makes the pastiera creamy and luscious! And if I add my candied lemons to it, well I assure you it’s spectacular!!
The starting idea comes from here, and with my modifications, I achieved an excellent result, perfect in cut but creamy like few!
Try it
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- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 1 Day
- Preparation time: 2 Hours
- Portions: 10/12
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Easter
- Energy 293.93 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 39.80 (g) of which sugars 22.76 (g)
- Proteins 6.20 (g)
- Fat 12.54 (g) of which saturated 7.83 (g)of which unsaturated 4.61 (g)
- Fibers 1.11 (g)
- Sodium 96.29 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 70 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
The Creamy Pastiera-Traditional Recipe
- 2 1/2 cups type 1 flour
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup butter
- 2 tbsp egg yolks (2 small)
- 1 egg (1 medium)
- ground cinnamon (a pinch)
- fine salt (a pinch)
- 10 1/2 oz wheat for pastiera
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (leveled)
- 14 oz sheep ricotta
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- orange blossom water
- ground cinnamon
- lemon zest
- 2 1/2 oz candied lemons
- 1 oz candied orange
Tools
- Baking Pan for pastiera 9"/10"
Preparation of the Creamy Pastiera-Traditional Recipe
Make the shortcrust and the wheat cream the day before and set the ricotta to drain.
For the shortcrust:
– Sand butter and sugar; add the eggs and finally the sifted flour, the pinch of salt, and the cinnamon.
– Roll out the dough on a sheet of parchment paper, cover and refrigerate for a whole day.
On the same day, set the ricotta to drain from the whey. Store it in the fridge overnight.
For the wheat cream:
– Cook the wheat in milk with sugar and cinnamon, stirring constantly to prevent burning and forming a skin on top. Once cool, store in the fridge.
For the ricotta cream:
– Pass the ricotta through a sieve, then add the eggs and sugar. After mixing these ingredients, gradually pour in the orange blossom water (in my opinion, it shouldn’t overpower the other ingredients) and the cinnamon.
– Blend 3 1/2 oz of wheat cream and mix it with the ricotta cream and the rest of the cooked wheat.
Baking the creamy pastiera:
– Grease the baking pan, place a sheet of parchment paper at the base, and line it with the rolled-out dough.
– Prick the bottom and fill the shell with the cream.
– With the dough scraps, cut 7 strips and decorate in the traditional way.
– Bake the pastiera in a preheated oven at 320°F for about 45 minutes. It should lightly color and cool in the oven.
– Once cool, dust with a little powdered sugar.
Storage:
I store the pastiera in the pantry, uncovered, but if you prepare it well in advance (tradition has it prepared on Good Friday) you can freeze it
