If you are a fan of creamy, sweet, chilled ricotta cannolis then you will love this pie. You can omit the mini chocolate chips if you are a purist, but why? I love to make this pie for Easter as carrot cake (to me) is overdone and boring. I like thinking outside of the box. In Italy, they serve this pie in the Spring time so I thought this was a fun riff on what to make for Easter-or just plain ‘ole Spring for that matter!
Give yourself two days to make this as you need to drain ricotta overnight (unless using a high end brand) and then you also need to chill pie overnight.
Pasta Frolla:
3 cups (360 grams) all-purpose flour
½ cup (60 grams) powdered sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon lemon zest
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter
2 large eggs
Ricotta Filling:
32 ounces (905 grams) whole-milk ricotta, (2 tubs Calabro brand (best one) strained overnight. Metal strainer w cheese cloth over a bowl)
¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup mini chocolate chips (if using)
Egg wash, for assembling
Preheat the oven to 375F
Make the crust:
Add the flour, powdered sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and salt to the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until well combined.
Add in the butter and pulse 5-7 times, or until the butter is broken down into tiny pebbles.
With the motor running, add in the eggs and let the dough process until it forms together into a cohesive ball around the blade, about 1 minute.
*can make dough by hand w pastry cutter like a regular American pie crust
Transfer the dough to a work surface dusted with flour. Divide the dough in half.
Roll out half of the dough to a rough 11″ circle and place inside of a 9″ deep-dish pie plate and make an edge that isn’t crimped but fully covers the edge. Pierce the bottom of the pastry multiple times with a fork to allow the steam to escape when baking. Place the pastry in the freezer to chill while the oven preheats, or at least 10 minutes.
Roll out the other half of the dough to a rough 10-inch circle. Place the pie dough on a flat surface (such as a sheet pan) that can fit in your refrigerator. Cover, and transfer to the refrigerator to chill.
Remove the bottom crust from the freezer and line the pastry with a round piece of parchment paper and then add pie weights to fill (or dry rice or beans or lentils), making sure to push pie weights up against the edges. Bake for 20 minutes on the lower rack, then remove from the oven and remove the parchment and pie weights. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the filling:
Add the (strained) ricotta to a large bowl. Whip it with a whisk for 30 seconds until lightened. Add the sugar, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, and almond extract and whisk together until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips, if using.
Transfer the filling to the slightly cooled pie shell.
Whisk together an egg with a bit of water to make an egg wash.
Remove the rolled-out top crust from the refrigerator. Score the top crust with the fork in a lattice pattern by evenly pressing and dragging the fork on the pastry. You want to get a good score on it, but make sure not to cut through the pastry.
Score three forks each way so it looks like a plaid pattern.
Brush the egg wash on the top crust as well as on the edges of the baked bottom pie crust (this will help the top crust seal to the edges). Transfer the top crust pastry on top of the ricotta filling. Seal the top crust into the edges, and cut off any excess dough.
Bake the pie on a rimmed baking sheet in the middle part of the oven for 40-50 minutes, or until the top is golden and shiny and the filling has just nearly puffed up throughout, leaving just a small portion in the middle that has not risen.
Let cool for at last 2 hours and then refrigerate. Served best cold. Pie isn’t as great when warm in my opinion as it feels slightly watery and if you use chocolate chips they smear. We like it chilled similar to cannolis. Cooled overnight on the countertop could be better than warm if you don’t want to eat it chilled.
notes
*This pie requires a 9″ deep-dish pie plate. I used this metal deep-dish pie plate (affiliate link) because I like the conduction of heat to ensure a crisp crust for this pie. If you do not have a 9″ deep-dish pie plate, you will not be able to use all of the filling. Set the filling aside and you can even bake it in a ramekin to have a ricotta custard. Just make sure not to try to use up all the filling in a regular-sized pie plate because the pie could overflow. Alternatively a 9.5 or 10″ pie plate will also work.
*The filling for this pie can also be made with an electric mixer if you don’t want to do it by hand.
*Unless you are buying a local or higher-end brand you likely should strain it. I like Calabro brand. To strain ricotta, place a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl. Line the fine mesh strainer with two layers of cheesecloth. An alternative to this is to use a nut milk bag if you have one of those. Place the ricotta in the cheesecloth and smooth the ricotta over to get a flat surface. Transfer the ricotta to the refrigerator to strain for about 8 hours or overnight. Discard any liquid left at the bottom of the bowl. Then the ricotta is ready to use.
