Rice Pie Recipes

ITALIAN RICE PIE

Steps:

• Read through all directions before starting!
• In a large bowl, add the sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, lemon zest, and cubed butter. Using your hands, cut/squeeze the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse sand
• In another bowl, lightly whisk the eggs and then pour into the dry sandlike mixture and stir until all of the egg has been incorporated
• Press down and form into a dough and then turn out onto counter and knead a few times until there are no dry bits remaining.
• Form into 2 flat disk shapes, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour (this makes enough for 2 pies, so you can opt to use the extra to decorate the top, or save for another pie).
• I like a thicker crust so I split the dough unevenly; that is, I use about 60% for the bottom and 40% for the top crust - no need to be too accurate just "eyeball" it when you divide the dough.
• Butter and flour an 8-inch pan. After the dough has chilled, roll it into a circle that is about 12 to 13 inches wide and then carefully transfer it over to the prepared pan and line it with the dough. Use PLENTY of flour under and on top of dough before and while rolling and also on your rolling pin. Return dough to fridge if it gets too warm or sticky.
• If the dough falls apart you can simply pinch it back together in the pan. Use plenty of flour on both sides of the dough when you are rolling out the dough to prevent sticking
• After you line the pan with the dough, you can freeze the pan with crust for an hour or so or place in fridge for at least an hour or overnight. This helps to prevent shrinkage.
• If you want to top the pie with pie crust lattice, roll out the crust using plenty of flour on both sides and the rolling pin, and cut into strips. Place strips on baking sheet or dish and chill until ready to use.
• Begin by adding the rice, milk, and lemon peel to a gentle boil over medium low heat. You MUST stir often or the mixture will definitely stick to the bottom of the pan!!
• After the rice has begun to slightly bubble, reduce the heat to low and continue cooking until most of the milk has absorbed (it's okay if rice is a bit undercooked as it will keep cooking in the oven). Set aside to cool
• You can also bring to small gentle boil for 2 or 3 minutes, cover, and then remove from heat and let the rice absorb all the liquid for about 30 minutes or so.
• In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta, sugar, eggs, grated lemon zest, and vanilla extract and beat until creamy (I mixed by hand using a whisk)
• Once the rice mixture is cooled (to the point where it won't cook the egg in the ricotta mixture), add it to the ricotta mixture and stir to combine.
• Use the prepared pie shell from earlier step and price the dough several times all over with a fork
• Pour the rice-ricotta filling mixture into the pie shell
• If using top crust, top with second pie crust or the lattice strips and top the pie. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle sugar.
• Place the pie on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F on the center rack until the filling is set (about 50 to 60 minutes).
• Check the pie about 20 minutes and 10 minutes before finished and if crust is browning too much, place a piece of aluminum foil over the top very loosely.
• Once pie is cooled, sprinkle the top with powdered sugar.
• Cool pie completely before eating and store in the refrigerator. Pie is best enjoyed at room temperature (otherwise, rice tends to harden too much).

ITALIAN RICE PIE I

Steps:

• Beat eggs in very large bowl. Add sugar, mixing well. Stir in cheese and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add heavy cream and stir. Fold in cooked rice and crushed pineapple.
• Pour into a 9 x 13 inch buttered pan.
• Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for one hour. Check by inserting clean knife into center. If the pie is done, knife will come out clean. Top should be golden brown. Refrigerate until thoroughly cooled.

EASTER PIE

Steps:

• Blend 3/4 cup of powdered sugar, eggs, vanilla, orange zest and ricotta in a food processor until smooth. Stir in the rice and pine nuts. Set the ricotta mixture aside.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Lightly butter a 9-inch glass pie dish. Lay 1 phyllo sheet over the bottom and up the sides of the dish, allowing the phyllo to hang over the sides. Brush the phyllo with the melted butter. Top with a second sheet of phyllo dough, laying it in the opposite direction as the first phyllo sheet. Continue layering the remaining sheets of phyllo sheets, alternating after each layer and buttering each sheet. Spoon the ricotta mixture into the dish. Fold the overhanging phyllo dough over the top of the filling to enclose it completely. Brush completely with melted butter.
• Bake the pie until the phyllo is golden brown and the filling is set, about 35 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool completely. Sift powdered sugar over the pie and serve.

BELGIAN RICE PIE

Steps:

• Make the prune filling: Combine prunes, raisins, brandy, light-brown sugar, zest, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until syrupy, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to the bowl of a food processor; process until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl; cover and refrigerate.
• Make the rice filling: Bring 1 1/2 cups water and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add rice, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender and water has evaporated, about 20 minutes. Stir in milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Simmer, stirring frequently, until rice is very tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Whisk together eggs until well incorporated in a medium bowl. While whisking constantly, add a small ladle of hot milk mixture to the eggs. Repeat process until half of the milk mixture has been incorporated. Then slowly return egg mixture to pot while continuing to whisk. Return pot to the heat and cook, stirring, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a medium bowl. Let cool for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Press plastic wrap directly on the surface of the rice mixture. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• Make the crust: Combine warm water and yeast in a small bowl. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Whisk together flour and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the eggs and vanilla until pale yellow and tripled in volume. Add sugar and butter and beat until thoroughly combined. Using a rubber spatula, stir in yeast mixture until just incorporated; stir in flour mixture. Turn out dough onto a generously floured work surface and sprinkle with more flour. Gently knead for about 1 minute. Transfer to a large bowl coated with softened butter. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in center of oven. Punch down dough and remove from bowl. Pat dough into a 13-inch round and place in a 9-inch pie plate. Spread bottom evenly with prune filling. Stir rice mixture to loosen and add to pie plate. Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet until crust is golden and center is set, about 1 hour. If crust browns too quickly, tent with a piece of foil that has a hole in the center. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then chill in refrigerator until completely cooled, at least 2 hours and up to overnight. Serve at room temperature.

ITALIAN RICE PIE (PASTIERA DI RISO)

Steps:

• Make pastry dough:
• Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Add eggs and pulse until just incorporated and dough begins to form large clumps.
• Turn out dough onto a work surface and divide into 6 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together, using a pastry scraper if you have one, and form into a thick log. Cut off 2/3 of the log and form into a large rectangle for the bottom of the pie. Form the remaining piece into a smaller rectangle for the top of the pie. Chill each, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 30 minutes.
• Make filling:
• Bring rice and well-salted water to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Drain in a sieve and rinse under cold water until cool. Drain well.
• Whisk together 3 yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl, then whisk in cornstarch and flour until smooth (mixture will be very thick). Bring milk just to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, then gradually add hot milk to yolk mixture, whisking.
• Pour custard back into saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-low heat, whisking constantly (custard will become very thick), then boil, whisking, 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla. Transfer to a bowl and chill, its surface covered with wax paper, until cold, about 2 hours.
• Stir together ricotta, custard, and remaining 2 yolks, then stir in zests, cinnamon, salt, and cooked rice.
• Assemble and bake pie:
• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Generously butter a 13- by 9-inch metal baking pan and line the bottom with an overlapping double layer of foil, leaving 2 inches of overhang on both ends, then generously butter foil.
• Roll out 1 piece of dough between 2 sheets of wax paper into a 15- by 11-inch rectangle (about 1/8 inch thick). If dough becomes soft, chill or freeze until firm. Remove top sheet of wax paper and invert into baking pan, fitting it into pan. Chill shell. Roll out remaining piece of dough between sheets of wax paper in same manner. Cut 12 (3/4-inch-wide) crosswise strips (you will have a little dough left over).
• Spread filling in pan and arrange 6 strips, 1 1/4 inches apart, diagonally across filling, trimming ends to fit. Arrange remaining 6 strips, 1 1/4 inches apart, diagonally across first strips to form a lattice with diamond-shaped spaces. Trim lattice to fit in pan, then fold outside crust down over filling to make a border. Brush pastry with beaten egg.
• Bake pie until pastry is golden and filling is puffed and set, about 1 1/2 hours, loosely covering top of pie with foil after 50 minutes to prevent over-browning. Transfer to a rack to cool. When completely cool, lift pie out of pan using foil overhang and transfer to a platter.

ITALIAN RICE PIE

Steps:

• Beat eggs in very large bowl.
• Add sugar and mix well.
• Stir in cheese and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
• Add heavy cream and stir.
• Fold in cooled, cooked rice and then drained pineapple.
• Pour into a buttered 9-1/2 inch X 13-1/2 inch pain.
• Bake@325* oven for 1 hour.
• Check after 1 hour by inserting clean knife into center. Knife should come out clean and top should be golden brown.
• Refrigerate after throughly cooled.

EASTER RICE PIE

Steps:

• Grease two 9-inch pie plates.
• Pulse flour, baking powder, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt in a food processor several times until combined.
• Place butter into the flour mixture and pulse just until butter resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in 1 egg and vanilla extract; process until dough holds together, about 30 seconds.
• Place dough on a well-floured work surface, divide in half, and roll each piece into a 9-inch round crust.
• Fit crusts into the prepared pie plates and freeze for 1 hour.
• Bring water to a boil in a saucepan; stir in rice and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until rice has absorbed the water, about 20 minutes.
• Stir milk into the rice and bring to a simmer; cook until thickened, stirring often, about 10 more minutes. Set rice mixture aside to cool.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Beat ricotta cheese, 1 cup sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and 6 eggs together in a bowl until smooth. Stir in cooked rice mixture and crushed pineapple until thoroughly combined.
• Divide the filling between the 2 cold pie crusts.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the filling is set and the tops are golden brown, about 90 minutes. Cool on racks.

CHICKEN AND RICE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven: 375.
• Put first pie crust in pie plate.
• Melt butter over medium heat.
• Cook onion, celery, and garlic about 3 minutes.
• Add soup, milk, chicken, parsley, lime juice, nutmeg, and pepper.
• Stir and heat.
• You will be making two layers of rice each topped with a layer of chicken sauce.
• Start by spreading a layer of rice on pie crust.
• Then follow with chicken sauce.
• Repeat.
• Top with remaining pie crust.
• Brush with a beaten egg, if desired.
• Bake 30 minutes-1 hour, depending on your oven.

GROUND BEEF 'N' RICE PIE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the beef, 3/4 cup tomato sauce, bread crumbs, onion, green pepper if desired and seasonings. Press evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9-in. pie plate, forming a crust., In another large bowl, combine the tomato paste and remaining tomato sauce. Stir in the rice and 3/4 cup cheese; pour into crust. Place pie plate on a baking sheet. , Cover and bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink. Uncover; drain. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.