Pastiera Napoletana Recipe

THE PASTA FROLLA (SHORTCRUST PASTRY)

1. Using an electric whisk or stand mixer, beat the softened butter with the sugar for at least 3-4 minutes until creamy.
2. Whipping at high speed, add the eggs one by one, waiting for the first to be incorporated before adding the second, then the third, until you have a smooth, homogeneous cream without lumps. Finally, add the salt.
3. Add the flour (sifted before) all at once and mix by hand with a wooden spoon; in a few moves the pastry will compact while remaining very soft.
4. Transfer the pastry to a work surface and knead a little to mix all the ingredients together. The dough will stick to your hands a little, that's normal. Add a little flour to compact the pastry.
5. Make a ball and wrap the shortcrust in plastic wrap. Let it cool in the refrigerator for about 12 hours (better if you make it the day before and leave it in the refrigerator for 24 hours).

THE WHEAT CREAM

1. Peel the orange and lemon, then save the peels and set them aside.
2. In a medium saucepan (not too small; the wheat should be spread out and flat), combine the wheat, milk, butter, and citrus zest.
3. Cook over very low heat for 25-30 minutes, stirring constantly (be careful, it tends to stick to the bottom, so keep the heat low and stir frequently). In the end, you should have a velvety cream.
4. Leave to cool completely at room temperature. Then remove the citrus peels.
5. Take 100 g (½ cup) of wheat cream and blend it. This is necessary to make the final mixture even creamier.
6. Now that you have a smooth cream, mix it with the wheat cream with the whole grains.
7. Mix and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator to settle. You can leave it until the next day when you need to assemble all the ingredients and bake the pastiera.

THE RICOTTA CREAM

1. At least 12-24 hours before making the ricotta cream for the pastiera, remove as much liquid as possible from the ricotta. To do this, drain it by placing it in a cotton cloth and squeezing it several times. If you use sheep's milk ricotta, as in the traditional Neapolitan recipe, you will see that this operation is not necessary because it is already a rather dry cheese with little liquid.
2. Finally, place it in a bowl, add the sugar and mix.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours. The rest is essential: the ricotta must completely absorb the sugar and the sugar must dissolve and become one with the mixture.
4. The next day, sift the ricotta and sugar through a fine sieve. Sifting the ricotta is a tedious but essential operation. The ricotta cream should be smooth, silky and creamy, absolutely free of lumps and chunks: so be patient, mash it well so as not to waste even a little!
5. Add the cinnamon and mix well. Then add the whole eggs and yolks, one at a time, making sure to let the previous one be absorbed before adding another one.
6. Finally, add the orange blossom water. The result will be like a smooth and rather soft cream.
7. Chop the candied fruit and add them to the ricotta cream. If you don't like the consistency of chopped candied fruit, you can blend them.
8. Finally take the wheat cream, add it as well and mix.
9. The creamy filling of the Neapolitan pastiera is ready! Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the pastry shell of the pastiera is ready.

MAKE THE PASTIERA

1. First, butter and flour the baking pan, then set aside. Sprinkle the work surface with flour and roll out the dough (now cold and hard) to a thickness of about 4 mm (⅙ inch).
2. Place the shortcrust pastry on the rolling pin and then lay it on the baking pan.
3. Using a rolling pin, flatten the edges of the cake pan to cut off any excess pastry. Set the remaining shortcrust aside; you will use it to make decorative pastry strips.
4. Use the prongs of a fork to poke small holes in the pastry case and place it in the refrigerator.
5. Take the pastry scraps and knead them together. Then form a ball and place it in the freezer for 10 minutes.
6. When the shortcrust has hardened enough, roll it out with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 4 mm (⅙ inch).
7. Cut it into strips that are not too thin: 6-8 strips, depending on the size of the cake pan, about 1.5 cm (⅗ inch) wide.
8. Remove the pastry shell and the filling from the refrigerator. Pour the filling into the shell and level it out, leaving about 6 mm (¼ inch) of space from the edge.
9. Now we need to decorate the pastiera with the pastry strips. Place the first 3 or 4 strips on the pastiera, evenly spaced.
10. Arrange the other strips by crossing them with the previous ones.
11. Once all the strips have been added, remove the excess dough from the edge, being careful to leave a small margin and not to cut too much.
12. Seal by pinching the ends of the strips at the edges.
13. Now your Pastiera Napoletana is ready to be baked! Place the pastiera in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before baking to prevent it from puffing up too much.

THE BAKING

1. Bake in a preheated oven on the medium-low rack at 150°C (300°F) for about 1 hour and 45-50 minutes. The pastiera must be baked slowly and for a long time. First, because this type of baking favors a cooked filling and a golden, not burnt pastry. Secondly, because slow, soft baking ensures a better taste.
2. After 1 hour, check the situation in the oven: it's possible that the pastiera will puff up too much. Don't worry: open the oven a bit and close it again: the cake will deflate a little.
3. In the last 15 minutes, check the color of the pastiera; it should be caramelized/amber. If it's a little pale, move it to the medium/high level so that it gets a little color, and only in the last 5 minutes, if it really does not get a nice color, bring it to 180°C (356°F).
4. Before removing from the oven, do the toothpick test. If it comes out dry, the pastiera is ready.
5. Turn off the oven and let the pastiera rest inside. Leave the oven slightly open with a wooden spoon in the door for about 30 minutes. If the pastiera has puffed up during baking, it will tend to deflate and settle at this stage.
6. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan.
7. Eat Pastiera Napoletana the next day - it tastes even better!