Pastiera Napoletanaeaster Cake Recipes

PASTIERA NAPOLETANA RECIPE

Steps:

• Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir to combine.
• Add the cubed butter and mix till coarse crumbs form.
• Mix in the lightly beaten eggs, vanilla extract and orange zest until it forms a smooth ball. (takes less than a minute).
• Wrap the dough in cling wrap and allow to chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
• Meanwhile spoon the jar of the cooked wheat in a medium sized stock pot.
• Add in the milk, vanilla bean and lemon zest.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 25 minutes or until the mixture thickens and has absorbed most of the liquids.
• Stir frequently making sure to keep an eye on it so the wheat berries do not stick to the pot and burn.
• Scrap out the any remaining seeds from the vanilla bean. Stir them back into the cooked wheat mixture and set aside to cool.
• While the mixture cools, grease a 25cm round tart tin with a removable bottom and set aside. (I used a 25cm (10 inch) deep quiche pan with removable bottom however any 10 inch pie dish would also work).
• Cut a quarter of the dough off, reserving it for the lattice top.
• Roll out the remaining dough to about 1/8 inch thick and line the tart tin with the rolled dough.
• Trim off any excess dough with a knife.
• In a medium sized bowl mix together the ricotta, the 2 whole eggs plus 2 egg yolks until light and fluffy.
• Mix in the powdered sugar (icing sugar), orange blossom water, orange and lemon zests until combined.
• Stir in the cooled wheat mixture.
• In a separate bowl beat the two remaining egg whites just until stiff peaks form and then softly fold them into the ricotta mixture.
• Pour the ricotta mixture into the prepared pie.
• Roll out the remaining pastry dough and cut out 9 strips of dough slightly longer than the pie tin. (about 1 inch wide)
• Place the strips of dough over the filling in a criss-cross pattern and trim off any excess.
• Brush the strips of dough with milk and bake the pie in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F, for about 60 minutes or until a lovely golden brown.
• Allow the ricotta pie to cool completely before refrigerating then dust with powdered sugar just before serving.
• This ricotta pie actually tastes better the day after it's baked making it a great make ahead dessert.

PASTIERA NAPOLETANA

Steps:

• For the Pasta Frolla, combine dry ingredients in food processor and pulse to mix. Cut butter into 8 pieces and add. Pulse to mix in finely. Add eggs and pulse until dough forms a ball. Remove from work bowl, wrap and chill dough.
• Soak the wheat in water to cover overnight if possible. Drain the wheat and place in a pan with salt and water to cover by 3 to 4 inches and simmer until tender, about 2 hours. Add water as necessary to keep from drying out and sticking. Cool and refrigerate until needed.
• For the pastry cream, combine sugar and flour in a small, non-reactive saucepan. Stir well to mix and add the milk, slowly, whisking it in smoothly. Whisk in the egg. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the pastry cream thickens and comes to a boil. Boil, stirring vigorously, about 1/2 minute. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and scrape into a clean bowl. Press plastic wrap against the surface and chill.
• For the filling, place ricotta in a mixing bowl and stir the cooled pastry cream to make a smooth, creamy mixture; stir in the sugar, eggs and remaining ingredients. Stir in the cooked wheat kernels.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and set a rack in the lowest level. Butter a 9-inch cake pan, 2-inches deep. To assemble, cut off 1/3 of the Pasta Frolla and reserve it. Roll the 2/3 of the dough into a 14-inch disk and line the prepared pan with it. Allow the dough to hang over the edge of the pan. Pour in the filling and sprinkle it with the cinnamon. Roll the remaining 1/3 of the dough into a 10-inch square. Cut it into 10 1-inch wide strips. Paint the strips with the egg wash. Moisten the rim of the dough on the pan with the egg wash, and adhere 5 strips in each direction, forming a diagonal lattice. Trim away any excess dough even with the top of the pan and push the dough all around off the top rim of the pan so that it is completely within the pan.
• Bake about 45 minutes, until the filling is set and the pastry is light golden. Cool in the pan before unmolding. To unmold, invert onto a flat plate, lift off the pan, replace the pan with another plate or platter, then re-invert, so that the Pastiera is right side up. Serve the Pastiera at room temperature.

ITALIAN EASTER CAKE " PASTIERA NAPOLETANA"

Steps:

• For Pasta Frolla.
• Put together tender butter, sugar, salt melted in a water spoon, almond and the eggs. combine everything and then add flour and vanilla just a little bit. Put in your fridge for 10-12 hours.
• For the dough inside: put ricotta together with powdered sugar and eggs and just a little bit of essences, prepared corn, and candied orange.
• Finally, lay your Pasta Frolla and put in muffin molde (the big one). Then put the dough inside and over with a little bit of pasta frolla. Stendete quindi la pasta frolla e mettetela nelle formine (ne verranno almeno 6). Put in oven for 20 minutes at 180°C Dish out with powdered sugar.
• We prepare this plate gifting to friends with this basket.

PASTIERA NAPOLETANA

Steps:

• Soak 100 g (3½ oz) farro or wheat grains (berries) in plenty of cold water, changing the water daily, for three days.
• For the pastry, put the flour, icing sugar, salt, orange zest and butter in a food processor and blitz to a fine breadcrumb consistency. Add the egg yolks to the mixer and blend again briefly, until the mixture comes together as a dough (add a tablespoon or two of iced water if the dough is still dry and does not come together). Form the dough into two equal rounds with your hands. Wrap in clingfilm (plastic wrap) and chill in the fridge or freezer, depending on when you want to use it. It needs to rest for at least 30 minutes in the fridge before you roll it.
• Grease a deep 23 cm (9 in) cake tin/crostata tin with butter, then dust it lightly with flour. After the dough has rested, roll it out to a rough 2 mm (1/16 in) thickness and line the cake tin, pushing the dough up the sides of the tin to create a 5-7.5 cm (2-3 in) depth and trimming any overhang. Don't worry too much about perfectly thin, even pastry. Reserve the pastry trimmings for the lattice top. Chill the pastry case in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
• Remove the pastry case from the fridge and blind-bake until just golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool while you prepare the filling.
• For the farro or wheat berries, on the third day of soaking, drain the soaked grain. Cook in a saucepan with the milk, cinnamon, lemon zest and salt over a very low heat, covered with a lid. Cook, stirring occasionally for 30-40 minutes until the grain is plump and tender and all the milk had been absorbed. Spread the grain out on a plate to cool completely.
• Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F).
• For the rest of the filling, whisk or beat the ricotta in a bowl until smooth, then whisk in the egg yolks. Stir in the orange zest, candied fruit, sugar, orange blossom water, vanilla and salt. Into this mixture, stir the cooled cooked wheat. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then fold them gently into the ricotta mixture.
• Pour the whole lot into the prepared pastry case. Cut the leftover pastry dough into strips about 2 cm (¾ in) wide, and arrange them over the top in a diagonal lattice. Use your fingers to press the edges of each strip into the pastry case walls to seal them.
• Brush the top of the tart with the beaten egg and bake for 90 minutes, or until biscuit brown all over.
• Let the tart cool and the filling settle, for at least 12 hours in a cool place before slicing into it. Serve, finally, with coffee and congratulations.

PASTIERA DI PASQUA (ITALIAN EASTER TART WITH RICOTTA)

Steps:

• Bring wheat grains, milk, butter, and 1/2 of the lemon zest to a simmer in a saucepan over low heat. Simmer until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 11-inch tart pan.
• Combine ricotta cheese, sugar, eggs, egg yolks, orange flower water, vanilla extract, and cinnamon in a bowl; beat with an electric mixer until well combined. Mix in remaining lemon zest and candied orange peel. Fold in wheat mixture and mix filling until well combined.
• Roll out 1 sheet puff pastry on a lightly floured surface so it will fit into the tart pan. Place pastry in the pan and spoon filling on top. Roll out the second puff pastry sheet and cut into 3/4-inch thick strips. Layer a lattice pattern on top of the filling and brush with beaten egg.
• Bake tart in the preheated oven until filling is set and lattice is lightly browned, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool inside the tart pan, at least 1 hour.
• Carefully unmold tart, transfer onto a cake platter. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

PASTIERA NAPOLETANA (NEAPOLITAN WHEATBERRY AND RICOTTA EASTER CAKE) RECIPE - (4.5/5)

Steps:

• For the pastry: Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Chop the cold butter into small pieces and pulse together in a food processor until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and lemon zest and knead just until the mixture comes together. If you find it a bit dry, add some cold water, a tablespoon at a time until it forms a dough; if it's too wet, add a bit of flour. Cover in plastic wrap and rest at least 30 minutes or overnight. If you're using uncooked wheat berries, then you first need to cook them by soaking them in water for 3 days (change the water twice a day), then draining and cooking in a large pot of at least 4 cups of fresh water. Simmer for 1 ½ hours without stirring, until soft. Drain and reserve until needed (this will keep well in an air tight container the fridge for 1 week) then carry on to the next step. If using pearl barley as a substitute, leave the uncooked barley to soak in a large bowl of fresh water overnight, then the next day cook it in plenty of water for 30 minutes or until soft. Drain then follow the rest of the recipe. Place the cooked wheat berries in a saucepan over medium heat with the butter, milk and lemon zest. Bring to a boil gently, stirring occasionaly until it becomes very thick and creamy like oatmeal, about 15 minutes. Let cool until needed. In a bowl, beat the eggs and extra yolks with the ricotta, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and orange blossom water until creamy. Leave this mixture to rest several hours (better if overnight) in the fridge. Fold the cooled wheat berry cream and the rested ricotta mixture together with the finely chopped candied citron. Roll out about two thirds of the pastry and place in a 10 inch (25 centimeter) greased springform tin. Cut off any overhang and add to the remaining pastry, roll out again and with a pastry crimper wheel, cut long strips about ¾ an inch wide. Fill the pastry base with the ricotta mixture and even out the borders of the pastry to the level of the mixture. Lay the long pastry strips gently across the top to form a a criss-cross diamond pattern (not square), pressing the strips on the edge of the pastry very gently. If desired, you can brush the lattice gently with some egg wash to make it shiny. Bake the pastiera for 1 hour at 390ºF (200ºC) until the pastry is golden and the pastiera is amber-brown on top. Allow to cool completely inside the springform pan before removing or chilling. Ideally serve the pastiera the next day (remove it from the fridge at least 30 minutes before eating to take away some of the chill) with some powdered sugar sifted over the top. Store any leftovers in the fridge.

PASTIERA NAPOLETANA

Steps:

• The Evening Before
• Place the weighed wheat berries in a pan with plenty of water, cover, and soak overnight at room temperature. I like to make at least twice the amount needed, so I have extra breakfast porridge.
• Mix the ricotta and sugar together, cover, and refrigerate overnight. (If the ricotta is runny, drain it first in cheesecloth, weigh it, and then mix it with the sugar.)
• Make the short crust pastry. You can use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or bowl with a stiff spatula. First cream the butter and sugar, then add the rest of the ingredients except the flour, finally add the flour. Bring the dough together, adding a little flour if it is very sticky. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate overnight.
• Same Day Prep
• Drain and add fresh water to the pan of wheat berries. You can start with 1 quart water and add more as needed. Bring up to a light boil and then set to simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Check periodically to make sure the simmer is light and the water hasn't evaporated off. When most of the wheat berries have popped open, the grano cotto is done.
• Add the ingredients from the wheat cream list to the pan of grano cotto and simmer while stirring until the mixture is pasty. Remove the peels if desired and use a fork or potato masher to crush the berries. Add the candied peels/citron to the wheat cream and set aside to cool. For a very smooth filling, immersion blend the entire mixture.
• Bring the ricotta-sugar and shortcrust pastry dough out of the refrigerator.
• Whisk together all the ingredients under the ricotta citrus filling ingredient list, adding the ricotta-sugar last.
• Finally, mix the cooled wheat cream into to the ricotta citrus filling. You now have a complete pastiera filling.
• Assembly and Baking
• Preheat your oven to 360F with a shelf at the second-to-lowest position.
• Lightly grease a 9-inch nonstick cake pan.
• Cut your shortcut pastry dough in two pieces, approximately 2/3 for the pastiera base and 1/3 for the lattice/gelosies.
• Flour your workspace and roll out the pastiera base. Use your pan to estimate the dough circle size, making sure you have enough to wrap the dough up the sides of the pan.
• Carefully wrap the dough around your rolling pin and transfer it to the pan. Use your fingers to press it into the pan and repair any tears, and a knife to cut off excess crust.
• Dock the crust base with a fork to prevent it from puffing upward while baking. This is not particularly needed for a whole wheat crust, but doesn't hurt.
• Roll a rectangle with the second piece of dough, again using plenty of flour, and cut into seven strips.
• Fill the pastiera base with the filling and gently tap the pan on the counter to remove trapped air.
• Place the first four strips of the top crust on the pastiera. Don't lay the first strip dead center, or you'll have trouble spacing the other three.
• Lay the last three strips of crust at an angle to make diamond shapes.
• Trim the excess strips around the edge of the pan and press the strips into the base crust. Extra dough can be baked as cookies; or rolled into a tube, wrapped, and frozen to bake as cookies on another occasion.
• Bake for 50-60 minutes. About 15 minutes into the bake, wrap the edges of the pastiera with a silicone or foil pie shield.
• Let the pastiera cool completely before you attempt to pop it out of the pan. I do this by loosening the edges, then covering it with a clean tea towel, followed by my palm, and then flipping the pastiera into my palm, removing the pan and flipping again as I gently lay it on a flat plate.
• Pastiera can be kept at room temperature to set and fully develop its flavors.
• On day two, you can store leftovers in the refrigerator and heat by the slice for 20-30 seconds in the microwave just to soften the texture and reawaken the aromas.