Neapolitan pastiera (pizza di granno)

Easter cake that must be prepared the day before consuming it. It is a little complicated to make, but it turns out quite good.
baked
cake
cheese
dessert
eggs
traditional

Yield: 1 24 cm Ø mould

Ingredients
Servings
1
Measurement units

shortcrust pastry

All the shortcrust pastry ingredients must be very cold.

  • 1 eggeggs
  • 300 gplain flour
  • 150 glard (or butter)
  • 75 gsugar

Filling: phase 1

Preparation of the cooked wheat cream.

  • 300 gcooked wheat
  • 90 glard (or butter)
  • 100 gcandied fruit
  • 40 gCorinth raisins
  • 1 orangeorange peel
  • 1 lemonlemon peel
  • milk

Filling: phase 2

Final filling of fresh curd cheese with eggs and flavourings.

  • 2 eggseggs
  • 1 egg yolkegg yolk
  • 300 gfresh curd cheese
  • 195 gsugar
  • 3 gground cinnamon
  • 2 gvanilla powder
  • 1 teaspoonorange blossom essence
  • grated orange and lemon peel

Topping

Surface finish.

  • 1 egg yolkegg yolk for brushing
  • icing sugar
Nutritional Information

Per 100 g

Calories
336 kcal
Protein
5.5 g
Fat
16.9 g
Carbohydrates
40.7 g

Calculated from reviewed ingredient weights and pinned USDA FoodData Central records.

Step-by-step Guide

Advance preparation

  1. Two days before the planned day of consumption, place the sugar and flour needed to make the shortcrust pastry in the refrigerator.
  2. The night before, macerate the candied fruit with a little liqueur, such as Calvados, rum, or brandy.

Prepare phase 1 of the filling

  1. Wash the orange and lemon.
  2. Peel them, keeping the peel as whole as possible.
  3. Remove the inner white part.
  4. Cut the candied fruit into small cubes.
  5. Mix the cooked wheat, milk, butter, and orange and lemon peels.
  6. Cook the mixture, stirring continuously until it reaches the consistency of a cream, approximately 10 or 15 minutes.
  7. Remove it from the heat and add the candied fruit cut into small pieces.
  8. Mix well until homogeneous and allow to cool to room temperature.

Make the shortcrust pastry

  1. Mix the flour and sugar, and pour them onto the worktop in a mound.
  2. Make a well in the centre of the mound and add the whole eggs.
  3. Arrange the lard, or butter, around it, also cold from the refrigerator and cut into small pieces.
  4. Keep cutting the dough with a spatula while mixing the pieces with the flour.
  5. Using your fingers, keep pinching the flour with the butter and eggs until the dough takes shape, but do not knead it.
  6. When it is well mixed, form the dough into a ball without pressing it.
  7. Fraisage the dough: flatten the ball with the palm of your hand and push it out towards three opposite sides.
  8. Then fold the stretched sections back over themselves and form a ball again without pressing it.
  9. Repeat the stretching 3 times.
  10. Divide the dough into two parts: one of 1/3 and the other of 2/3 of the dough.
  11. Form two balls without pressing them.
  12. Wrap the balls in plastic wrap and let them rest in the refrigerator for one hour.

Prepare phase 2 of the filling

  1. In a large bowl, mix the sugar, whole eggs, and yolk, and stir vigorously for 3 minutes.
  2. Add the fresh curd cheese and continue stirring.
  3. Add the orange blossom or thousand-flower essence, vanilla, cinnamon, and grated orange and lemon peel, and stir.
  4. Incorporate the cooked wheat cream prepared in phase 1 of the filling and stir until well combined.
  5. Keep the filling in the refrigerator while rolling out the shortcrust pastry.

Roll out the shortcrust pastry and line the mould

  1. Line the base of the mould with baking paper.
  2. Butter the paper and sides, then lightly flour them.
  3. Flour the worktop and place the ball corresponding to 2/3 of the dough on it.
  4. Flatten it with a rolling pin.
  5. When it is rolled out to a size slightly larger than the diameter of the mould, flour it well and roll it around the rolling pin.
  6. Unroll the dough over the mould so that it covers it and overhangs the edges slightly.
  7. Adjust the inside so that it fits the side walls and corners of the bottom of the mould.
  8. Remove the dough overhanging the edges of the mould using the blunt side of a knife.
  9. Prick the base pastry with a fork so that it does not rise too much during baking.
  10. Keep the mould with the dough in the refrigerator while preparing the dough strips for the lattice on top of the cake.

Roll out the pastry strips for the topping lattice

  1. Flour the worktop and place the ball corresponding to 1/3 of the dough on it.
  2. Flatten it with a rolling pin and turn it sideways to make rolling it out easier.
  3. When it is as wide as the diameter of the mould, cut it into an even number of strips.

Fill the mould with the filling

  1. Half an hour before baking, preheat the oven to 175 ºC.
  2. Remove the mould and filling from the refrigerator.
  3. Using a ladle, gradually fill the mould with the filling.
  4. Place the dough strips in one direction on top, at a slight angle and leaving space between each one.
  5. Place the second batch of strips in the opposite direction so that they form a lattice of small diamonds.
  6. Brush the surface with the egg yolk for brushing.

Bake

  1. Bake at 180 ºC for approximately one hour.
  2. Allow it to cool to room temperature before unmoulding.
  3. Dust the surface with icing sugar.
Recommendations & Tricks
  • The pastiera must be made the day before consumption.
  • The shortcrust pastry dough is not kneaded; it is only pinched together.
Original recipe
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    Neapolitan pastiera (pizza di granno) | The Catalan Table