Chocolate pastiera – Italian wheat and ricotta pie
Scorrere verso il basso
This chocolate pastiera is not a traditional verion of Italian pie but is equally delicious and irresistible thanks to the fabulous filling with cooked wheat, creamy ricotta mixed with candied fruit and dark chocolate pieces. The filling is wrapped in cocoa shortcrust pastry (original recipe by Ernest Knam) that makes it sweet, rich and simply delightful. The flavor of the chocolate blends perfectly with the citrus flavor of the candied fruit while the scent of orange blossom and cinnamon add a delicate and familiar note of the classic pastiera flavor.
This version of pastiera is a perfect excuse to enjoy it all year round and not just during the holidays as it amazes with its rich and moist filling. It is a dessert for great chocolate lovers and for those who are curious to revisit the much loved Neapolitan traditional dessert.
Chocolate pastiera – Italian wheat and ricotta pie
Rich and delicious Italian chocolate pastiera. Reinterpretation of a traditional dessert with a filling rich in flavors and aromas.
Ingredients
Cocoa shortcrust pastry by Ernest Knam
- 250 g soft butter (I used butter made by Lurpak)
- 220 g granulated sugar
- 100 g of eggs (about 2 medium eggs)
- 400 g of all-purpose or cake flour
- 80 g of dark cocoa powder
- 4 g of salt
- 10 g of baking powder (2 tsp)
Pastiera filling
- 300 g of cooked wheat or cooked rice
- 350 g of previously drained ricotta
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 230 g granulated sugar
- 70 g candied orange
- 70 g candied citron or lemon
- 100 g dark chocolate
Instructions
Instructions Italian chocolate pastiera – cocoa shortcrust pastry by Ernest Knam
- For this recipe I used unsalted butter made by Lurpak.
- Use the blender equipped with blades, a mixer with the leaf attachment or a bowl and the mixer.
- Place the butter cut into small pieces and the sugar in the bowl of your choice. Work them at medium speed until they are blended.
- Add salt and whole eggs. Mix the butter with the eggs briefly.
- Now add sifted flour, cocoa and baking powder. Turn on your kitchen appliance for a few seconds to mix the ingredients and make it absorb the flour.
- Turn off the mixer and knead briefly with your hands. Work the dough only as necessary to incorporate all the ingredients. Place it on a sheet of baking paper orplastic wrap and make it flat. Wrap it up and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
Note from the author of this recipe
- I just want to tell you that I really appreciate that you have decided to prepare my recipe. If you like it, I would be very happy and it could be a huge help for me if you follow me on my official social channel such as instagram where I publish every time a new recipe comes out. To become my follower just search for foodohfood in your instagram or click on this link: https://www.instagram.com/foodohfood/ and press Follow. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Barbara. ^_^
Instructions creamy chocolate pastiera – the filling
- Drain the ricotta cheese in your fridge over a sieve for about 12 hours. The next day mix it with the sugar and let it rest in the refrigerator for 10 – 30 minutes to give the ricotta time to dissolve the sugar and absorb it.
- In Italy you can buy precooked wheat in almost every store. If you can’t get it easily you need to cook your own wheat until it pecomes soft or you can use cooked rice.
- Take your pre-cooked wheat and using the mixer, whisk it for a few minutes to shred it.
- Gradually add milk, continuing to whisk with the mixer, then two eggs with two yolks. Finally add ricotta with sugar. At this point, add diced candied fruit and the coarsely chopped dark chocolate. Mix carefully and finally add sifted cocoa powder, orange blossom water and cinnamon. Mix carefully to blend everything and set aside.
- Take the pastry and cut out about a third that we will use to create the decorations. Dust your work surface with some flour and roll out the cold pastry to a thickness of about 5 mm. Move it to your greased and floured pastiera tin. Unfortunately, not having that tin available while I was making this recipe, I used a 4 cm high tart pan with a removable bottom.
- Place the pastry shell in the refrigerator and proceed with the rest of the dough to create the strips for decoration. Roll out the dough and with a sharp knife cut out several strips of various sizes. As this is not a traditional pastiera you can indulge yourself with different decorations and patterns created with the pastry.
- Take the base of the pastiera and fill it with the filling. From this dose I have about 2 tablespoons of filling left over. Decorate with the prepared pastry strips and remove the excess shortcrust pastry.
Instructions Italian chocolate pastiera – baking time
- Bake in a preheated static oven at 170 – 175 ° C for about 1 hour. The cooking times depend on the pan you used. If you use lower but larger pan, use the shortest cooking times. The pastiera must be elastic to the touch and swell slightly while baking.
- Turn off the oven and allow to cool slightly in the semi-open oven. Then take the pastiera and let it rest at room temperature for at least 12 hours. Keep it covered with a cotton cloth. Do not place it in the refrigerator.
Note from the author of this recipe
- I just want to tell you that I really appreciate that you have decided to prepare my recipe. If you like it, I would be very happy and it could be a huge help for me if you follow me on my official social channel such as instagram where I publish every time a new recipe comes out. To become my follower just search for foodohfood in your instagram or click on this link: https://www.instagram.com/foodohfood/ and press Follow. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Barbara. ^_^
Notes
Please add minimum 24 hours for waiting time.
The nutritional values are generated automatically for indicative purposes only and are therefore not completely accurate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cakeCalories: 444kcal
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Dust it with a some powdered sugar or decorate with previously melted chocolate and serve.
lot of love. B.
p.s. If you are looking for another amazing chocolate cake check my Whipped cream chocolate cake with mascarpone frosting (foto below).
