Dora Siragusa makes Pastiera Napoletana

This is worth republishing and tackling all over again. Ciao, Dora!

Straight from the horse’s mouth, Dora is guest blogging to tell us how to make her version, which is absolutely the best I ever had. This is very rich, and will serve 12. It looks like a lot of work, and maybe it is, but it is a feast dessert for a very special occasion and it is worth it.

For my pastiera I use the following basic recipe but I make a few changes to it.

The first change is the quantity of candied citron, pumpkin and orange. I use half the quantities (40, 40 and 25 grams) and I cut them very finely so that they don’t stick in the teeth. The other change is that I blend the grano cotto
(cooked wheat) because I don’t like the original texture. If you don’t like the pieces of candied fruit in the pastiera you can make it without, it’s up to you, it’s important though the millefiori or fiori d’arancio aroma, it gives the pastiera the typical smell of spring.

I was sure I had taken pictures while making it (I last made it here in USA last week) but I can’t find them anywhere, the web is full of pictures anyway.

PASTIERA NAPOLETANA

PASTA FROLLA PER PASTIERA
• 3 uova intere 3 whole eggs
• 500 gr. Farina 500 g flour
• 200 gr. Zucchero 200 g sugar
• 200 gr. di strutto o di burro 200 g lard or butter

Preparazione:

Su un tavolo disporre la farina e lo zucchero a fontana con al centro il
burro ammorbidito, i tuorli d’uovo e la buccia grattugiata di mezzo limone.
Con una forchetta sbattere le uova al centro della fontana incorporando poco
alla volta la farina i burro e lo zucchero. Quando gli ingredienti saranno amalgamati,
lavorare la pasta rapidamente senza impastarla, ma soltanto pressandola fino a
quando il colore sarà diventato uniforme. La pasta frolla non va lavorata
troppo per non farle perdere la friabilità. Far riposare, almeno una mezzora,
l’impasto coperto da un tovagliolo bagnato e strizzato.

Preparation:

On a work surface, arrange the flour and sugar in the form of a fountain
or of Vesuvius, with the softened butter, the yolks of the eggs and the
grated peel of half a lemon in the center. With a fork, beat the egg yolks
in the center, mixing it gradually into the flour, incorporating theflour/sugar
and the butter bit by bit. When the ingredients are mixed, knead the pastry
quickly, but only until smooth and of a uniform color, don’t overwork it like
bread or it will be tough. Let it rest at least a half hour covered with a napkin
you have wet and wrung out.

Ingredienti per la pasta: per 12 persone ingredients for the filling
• gr. 700 di ricotta 700 g of ricotta
• gr. 600 di zucchero 600 g of sugar
• gr. 400 di grano cotto (si trova in scatola anche 400 g of cooked wheat from a jar or tins
nei supermercati, se non lo trovi clicca su grano cotto if you can’t find it, I’ll make a link to a place
per cuocerlo da te) that tells you how to make your own.
• gr. 80 di cedro candito (I use 40 gr) 80 g (40) candied citron
• gr. 80 di arancia candita (40) 80 g (40) candied orange peel
• gr. 50 di zucca candita ( 25) (si chiama”cucuzzata”) 50 g (25) candied squash (cucuzzata)
• un pizzico di cannella a pinch of cinnamon
• gr. 100 di latte 100 g of milk
• gr. 30 di burro o strutto 30 g of butter or lard
• 5 uova intere + 2 tuorli 5 whole eggs plus 2 yolks
• una bustina di vaniglia 1 tsp. of vanilla extract

• un cucchiaio di acqua di fiori d’arancio 1 tablespoon of orange flower flavoring
(I use> millefiori, if I don’t have the fiori d’arancio, or millefiori flavoring
it’s the same)
• 2 limoni 2 lemons

Preparazione:

Versate in una casseruola il grano (blended in my case), il latte, il burro
e la scorza grattugiata di 1 limone; lasciate cuocere per 10 minuti
mescolando spesso finchè diventi crema.
Frullate a parte la ricotta, lo zucchero, 5 uova intere più 2 tuorli, una bustina
di vaniglia, un cucchiaio di acqua di fiori d’arancio e un pizzico di cannella.
Lavorare il tutto fino a rendere l’impasto molto sottile.
Aggiungere una grattata di buccia di un limone e I canditi tagliati a dadi.
Amalgamare il tutto con il grano. Prendete la pasta frolla e distendete
l’impasto allo spessore di circa 1/2 cm con il mattarello e rivestite la
teglia (c.a. 30 cm. di diametro) precedentemente imburrata, Ritagliate la
parte eccedente, ristendetela e ricavatene delle strisce. Versate il
composto di ricotta nella teglia, livellatelo, ripiegate verso l’interno i
bordi della pasta e decorate con strisce formando una grata che pennellerete
con un tuorlo sbattuto. Infornate a 180 gradi per un’ora e mezzo finch’è la
pastiera non avrà preso un colore ambrato; lasciate raffreddare e, prima di
servire, spolverizzate con zucchero a velo.

Preparation:

Turn the cooked grain into a pan with the milk, the butter and the grated peel
of one lemon. Cook it for 10 minutes, stirring, often until it becomes creamy.
Using a blender or food processor, mix the ricotta, the sugar, the 5 whole eggs
and two yolks, the vanilla, the flower flavoring and the cinnamon. Blend until it
becomes very smooth. Stir in the grated peel of a lemon, and the diced candied
fruit peels. Mix this together with the grain mixture.

Take the pasta frolla you have made and roll it out about 1/8 inch thick and line
a buttered cake or torte pan of about 12″ diameter with it. Cut away the extra
pastry from the edge, leaving from ½” to 1″ all around, and then re-roll the extra
and cut it into strips.

Pour the filling mixture into the pastry shell and level it. Turn the edge piece
toward the center and then using the strips you’ve made, cover the filling
with a lattice pattern of strips. Brush the top of the pastry with a beaten egg yolk.

Put the Pastiera into a preheated 180° C or 350 °F oven and cook it for
about 1.5 hours, removing it before it turns amber colored. Leave it to cool
and then before serving it, sprinkle it with powdered sugar.

The grano cotto: In Italy I found it in a glass jar (here in the States I found it available
in a aluminum 220 gr. can ).

It never happened to me in Italy but it happened to me twice here in
the USA….. the mixture of the ricotta cheese and wheat and all those
ingredients together was too liquid the first time and the strings of
pasta frolla on top dropped inside. What I did the second time to correct the
issue was to put a couple of tablespoons of corn starch in the corn and
ricotta mixture while cooking it to make it more solid so that when I
laid the strings of pasta frolla they did not fall inside
Another thing I will be trying next time is to drain the ricotta cheese with a
cheesecloth… looks like the ricotta here in the states is softer and more liquid
compared to the Italian one. So I will have to drain the ricotta.