Pizza di Ricotta Dolce (Sweet Ricotta Cheese Pie)
Try this Pizza di Ricotta Dolce (Sweet Ricotta Cheese Pie) recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Pizza di Ricotta Dolce (Sweet Ricotta Cheese Pie) recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- for the filling
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- for the crust
- 1/4 cup granulated natural sugar
- freshly grated zest of 1/2 lemon
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) very cold butter cut into 8 pieces
- 1 large egg cold
- 2 tablespoons ice cold water
- 1 pound ricotta cheese drained (make your own with this recipe)
- freshly grated zest of 1/2 lemon
- dash of ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons candied orange peel chopped
- 1 egg lightly beaten with a splash of milk (optional
- Carbohydrate 26.3138653756611 g
- Cholesterol 123.3267043375 mg
- Fat 7.23765768371089 g
- Fiber 0.794281264766353 g
- Protein 12.3192969963107 g
- Saturated Fat 3.61078450879086 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (121g)
- Sodium 2273.51062576529 mg
- Sugar 25.5195841108947 g
- Trans Fat 0.737316349273045 g
- Calories 222 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
- Get started on the pastry crust first. Add the flour, sugar, salt, and lemon zest to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse once or twice to combine.
- Add the butter. Pulse a few times, just until the butter mixes into the flour, forming a sandy mixture with some pea-sized pieces.
- Add the egg and water. Pulse 60 to 90 seconds until it comes together into a ball of dough. It’ll start out looking like wet sand, and comes together into a ball during the last few seconds of pulsing.
- Dump the dough onto a lightly floured counter. Divide it into 2 equal pieces. Set on a dish, and chill in the fridge while you mix the filling.
- Make the filling: add the ricotta, eggs, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, and cinnamon to a deep bowl. Whisk to combine. Stir in the candied orange peel.
- On a lightly floured counter, roll one out one piece of dough into a 10-inch circle. Fit it into an 8-inch pie plate. Spread the filling into the pie plate.
- Roll the remaining dough into an 8-inch circle, and cut into eight 1-inch wide strips.
- Arrange 3 strips of dough, an equal length apart, across the top of the dough. Arrange the remaining strips across in the opposite direction of the first set of strips. For detailed directions and photos to make a proper lattice crust, go read this post by Elise at Simply Recipes. Brush the crust with the beaten egg & milk, if desired, for a shiny finish.
- Bake until the filling is set and top of the pie is deep golden color, about 60 minutes. The pie will puff up, and the lattice will break slightly—don’t worry, trust me. Once the pie cools, the filling settles down flat, and the lattice mostly “mends†itself (the few telltale cracks give it character, in my opinion). Let the pie cool completely before cutting.
Allowing the ricotta to drain thoroughly before mixing prevents excess moisture from breaking down the structure of the pastry crust during baking. Historical Italian sweet pies often rely on fresh curd cheeses that require deliberate water removal to achieve a dense yet tender crumb in the filling. When scaling this recipe up for larger gatherings, maintain the ratio of one large egg per pound of ricotta to ensure proper coagulation in the oven without altering the setting time.
- Use very cold butter cut into eight pieces to achieve a flaky pastry texture, pulsing it in the food processor only until the mixture resembles coarse sand with pea-sized lumps.
- Chill the divided dough disks in the refrigerator for at least thirty minutes before rolling to relax the gluten strands and prevent shrinkage along the edges of the pie plate.
- Bake the pie at 325 degrees Fahrenheit until the filling puffs and the top develops a deep golden color, which typically requires approximately sixty minutes of total oven time.
- Allow the baked pie to cool completely at room temperature so the ricotta custard settles fully and the pastry lattice firms up prior to slicing.
Leftover sweet ricotta pie keeps well when stored in the refrigerator for up to three days, though freezing is generally discouraged due to the high moisture content of the dairy filling separating upon thawing. Reclaim the crispness of the pastry by warming individual slices in a low-temperature oven rather than using a microwave.
