Traditional grandmother’s Neapolitan Pastiera recipe with precooked wheat, a preparation that, together with Casatiello, is part of the great and colorful Neapolitan cuisine and the traditional Easter desserts. The traditional Neapolitan pastiera is essentially a tart made with a base of shortcrust pastry made with lard and a filling of ricotta and cooked wheat boiled in milk. A rich and sumptuous dessert that cannot be missing from Easter menu ideas, it is a bit challenging to make but truly worth trying — and today we’ll make it together. In the classic original recipe of the Neapolitan pastiera there are 7 decorative strips and the aromas used are orange zest, vanilla and orange blossom water, and the main ingredients of the filling are cooked wheat and ricotta. Today many variations have been added to the traditional recipe, such as chocolate pastiera, and often the ricotta of the original version is replaced by pastry cream, giving rise to the Neapolitan pastiera with pastry cream. But what is the origin of the pastiera and why does the Neapolitan pastiera have 7 strips?
According to a legend, the siren Partenope had chosen the Gulf of Naples as her home and delighted the inhabitants with her melodious and very sweet voice. To thank her, the locals began to celebrate a ritual in which they offered the siren seven gifts (just like the strips): flour, eggs, wheat, orange blossom, ricotta, sugar, spices. Each of these gifts had its own symbolism and, when worked together by the skillful hands of the siren Partenope, gave rise to the famous Neapolitan pastiera.
Of course these are just “stories” or rather legends, and although the origin of this dessert has roots in antiquity and has been lost over time, today the Neapolitan Pastiera is a dessert that is part of the heritage of all Italy, where the tradition of cooking wheat and using it in many desserts is common to many regions. In Sicily, for example, cuccia is a typical spoon dessert based on ricotta, candied fruit and cooked wheat.
But let’s go to the kitchen now: we’ll discover how to make the Neapolitan pastiera with precooked wheat, much more practical and faster than the version that requires long cooking and soaking of the wheat, but equally delicious. Before we begin, remember that if you want to stay updated on my recipes you can follow my page Facebook and my profile Instagram.
Also take a look at these Neapolitan desserts.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 12-14 slices
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 291.44 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 39.31 (g) of which sugars 23.72 (g)
- Proteins 6.08 (g)
- Fat 12.79 (g) of which saturated 5.81 (g)of which unsaturated 6.35 (g)
- Fibers 1.09 (g)
- Sodium 90.43 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 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 to make the original pastiera
- 1 2/3 cups (about 14 oz) ricotta (preferably sheep's milk)
- 1 1/8 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups cooked wheat (precooked)
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 3 eggs (large)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 cup candied fruit (about 2/3 cup orange and 1/3 cup citron (total about 5.3 oz))
- 2 tsp orange blossom water
- to taste orange zest
- to taste lemon zest
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp wildflower honey
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (00)
- 7/8 cup lard (or butter)
- 1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 eggs (small)
- to taste lemon zest
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (or vanillin)
- to taste powdered sugar (for finishing)
Grandmother’s recipe for pastiera: useful tools.
- Baking pan for 11-inch pastiera pan
- Oven
- Rolling pin
- Parchment paper
How to make the original Neapolitan pastiera
Put the precooked wheat into a pot, cover it with the milk and add the butter, two tablespoons of sugar taken from the total, and the orange and lemon peels.
Cook for about 20–30 minutes over medium heat or until all the milk has been absorbed, leaving a thick and creamy mixture; then remove the peels.
You can decide to leave the wheat as it is or give it a quick blitz with an immersion blender to make everything creamier.
Let it cool.
In a large bowl, mix the ricotta with the eggs, sugar, flavorings, honey and candied fruit.
Once you have a smooth, homogeneous mixture, add the cooled or lukewarm cooked wheat mixture and combine.
Place in the refrigerator.
Put the flour on a work surface, add the lard (or butter) and work it together until you obtain a crumbly mixture.
Make a well, add the eggs, the sugar and the vanilla extract and work until you have a smooth, homogeneous dough; wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
After resting, roll the dough out to a thickness of about 0.2 in (approximately 1/4 inch) on a sheet of parchment paper and, in one quick movement, lift and flip it onto the pan (so that the parchment paper is on top and not underneath).
Run the rolling pin over the pan to remove the excess dough and pour the ricotta and wheat filling into the pan.
Roll out the remaining dough and make the typical strips (7 — apparently that’s how many there should be), cutting them with a fluted pastry wheel (not a smooth one; another recently imposed rule).
Decorate the pastiera and bake it in a conventional oven at 356°F for about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
During baking the pastiera will puff up (just like a cheesecake); it may crack a little, but that’s normal.
After the allotted time, remove from the oven and let it cool before unmolding.
The pastiera should be eaten at room temperature after at least one day of resting (some say even three), so that the aromas can develop fully; you can optionally dust it with powdered sugar.
It keeps at cool room temperature for two or three days, covered with a cotton or linen cloth; others store it at room temperature for up to 7–10 days after preparation. Some prefer to refrigerate it or freeze it already portioned.
We never go beyond three days; following our tradition I prepare two on Good Friday and we eat them between Easter and Easter Monday.
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