← Nouns Cooking · Italian

Ingredients

• 300 g plain flour
• 120 g cold butter (or lard), diced
• 120 g sugar, for the pastry
• 2 eggs, for the pastry
• 300 g cooked wheat berries (grano cotto, jarred)
• 200 ml Milk
• 15 g butter, for the wheat
• 1 lemon, zest grated
• 400 g sheep’s or cow’s milk ricotta, drained
• 200 g sugar, for the filling
• 3 eggs, separated, for the filling
• 80 g candied orange and citron peel, finely diced
• 2 tbsp Orange blossom water
• 1 tsp Cinnamon (optional)
• icing sugar, to dust

Method

1. For the pastry, rub the butter into the flour and sugar until sandy, then add the 2 eggs and gather into a dough without kneading too much. Wrap and chill for 1 hour.
2. Put the wheat, milk, butter and lemon zest in a pan and simmer, stirring, for 10–15 min until thick and creamy like porridge. Let it cool.
3. Beat the ricotta with the sugar until smooth, then beat in the 3 yolks one at a time. Stir in the cooled wheat, candied peel, orange blossom water and cinnamon. Whisk the whites to soft peaks and fold them in.
4. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, 350°F). Roll out two-thirds of the pastry and line a buttered 24–26 cm tart tin with deep sides. Pour in the filling.
5. Roll out the rest of the pastry, cut 7 strips and lay them across the top in a diamond lattice, pressing the ends to the edge.
6. Bake for 60–75 min until the top is amber-brown and the filling is set with only a slight wobble. Turn off the oven and leave it inside with the door ajar for 30 min.
7. Cool completely, then rest overnight before dusting with icing sugar; the flavours need a day to settle.

Tips

• If you cannot find grano cotto, cook pearled spelt or farro until very soft as a substitute.
• Contains gluten, eggs and dairy. Many Neapolitans bake it on Good Friday to eat on Easter Sunday.
• Use butter, not lard, in the pastry to keep it vegetarian.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Memorie di Angelina Pasta Grammar Great Italian Chefs