I made a Pastiera a Traditional Easter cake created in ancient times in Naples but this modern version originated in the 16th century. In my video I show its preparation step by step. At the beginning of the video we also describe the agricultural life in 1233 as shown on the façade of our cathedral in Lucca.
This is the recipe:
PASTIERA
Ingredients (serves 8). I have adapted my mother’s recipe. She was doing the same with her recipe. You might have noticed that she gave the option of butter instead of lard (Strutto). I used a 26 cm (10") tin.
PASTA FROLLA/PASTRY
400 gr. (3 cups) flour + 100 gr. ( ¾ cup) if needed
100 gr. (3 ½ ounces) cold unsalted butter, diced + some butter to grease the tin
100 gr. ( ½ Cup) Granulated Sugar
4 Egg yolks + 1 egg white
A pinch of salt
FILLING
400 gr. (14 ounces) Ricotta cheese
450 gr. (1 pound) Soaked wheat for Pastiera - Grano cotto per Pastiera (Available in tins or jars in some UK and US Supermarkets and Italian Delicatessens)
450 gr. (2 ¼ cups) Granulated Sugar + 1 tbsp
5 Eggs
100 gr. (3 ½ ounces) Candied orange peel or Candied Citron (Citrus Medica) if available
1 small Lemon unwaxed, untreated
Orange flower water or orange extract (use the dose for about 1 kg - 2 pounds)
100 ml (½ Cups) Milk
A pinch of salt
2 pinches of ground cinnamon
Icing sugar to sprinkle on top
METHOD:
FILLING
With a fork, cut the butter that you have removed from the fridge an hour before, into smaller pieces. Mix the flour, butter, eggs and sugar with a pinch of salt.
Mix for a short time until the mixture appears crumbly, knead for a few minutes (do not overdo it) and shape it into a ball. Wrap it in clingfilm and place it in the fridge for at least half an hour.
Put the soaked wheat from the jar and the milk in a saucepan. Add a tbsp of sugar, a pinch of ground cinnamon and the lemon zest (1 teaspoon)
Place over a low flame and stir it occasionally with a wooden spoon to avoid it sticking to the bottom of the pan, for 15- 20 mins to allow the wheat to absorb the milk.
Leave it to cool.
In a bowl place the ricotta and stir in the sugar until it is smooth.
Add 5 egg yolks and set aside the egg whites.
Then add the orange flower water and the candied peel.
Now you need to line the cake tin with the pastry.
Take the dough out of the fridge and grease your tin with butter
Sprinkle the pastry board with some flour to avoid sticking. Extend the dough to line the cake tin and keep ⅓ to make around 10 decorative criss-cross strips about the diameter of your cake tin. The dough is not very elastic and tends to break. It doesn’t really matter as you can join bits together.
You can use a rolling pin to flatten it but I use my hand to shape it into the tin. The most important thing is to extend it from the centre and don't make it too thick.
In a bowl beat the egg whites until firm.
Add the ricotta mixture to the cooked wheat (cold by now) and then the beaten egg whites. Be careful to keep the air in the mixture.
Now with a big spoon fill the lined cake tin with the mixture and place the strips on top in a criss-cross pattern. Some people like to brush the strips with egg white to make them shiny. I can’t see the point as the pastiera is sprinkled with icing sugar before serving.
Put it in a preheated oven 180°C degrees (static) (350°F degrees) and cook for about 1 ½ hr. The strips should be golden and the open squares brown and firm.
Now let it cool down and rest.
It’s very important that the pastiera rests for a couple of days at least. Traditionally it is baked on Thursday or Good Friday and eaten obviously on Easter Sunday.
Just before serving, dust it with icing sugar.
Enjoy
Enzo & Celia - Piazza Talk Lucca
There are special pastiera cake tins. In Naples the traditional one is made of aluminium and the cake is not removed from the tin so when you buy one from the pasticceria you should get a tin (that’s how I got mine).
You can also use a normal cake tin.
