Passport & Plate - Pastiera Napoletana
Italy | Monday, February 17, 2014 | 3 photos
Ingredients
To cook the traditional Pastiera Napoletana we need the following ingredients
Flour – 250g
Butter – 115g (100g for the pastry and 15g for the stuffing)
Sugar – 300g (100g for the pastry and 200g for the stuffing)
Eggs – about 5
Wheat (boiled) – 210g
Milk – 100ml
Lemon peel (from 1 lemon)
Ricotta – 350g
Vanilline
Candied fruit or raisins to your taste
How to prepare this recipePastiera Napoletana is originally Italian Easter cake and it's essential to make it taste like a truly home-made pie. When I decided to cook Pastiera I came up with an idea to make a soft and fresh ricotta by myself. In Saturday evening I took a package of frozen kefir (750ml) and put it into the colander. In the morning I got the most delicate curd for my Pastiera (350g).
In addition I had to soak the wheat on Saturday as well (they say soaked wheat boosts immunity and contains more vitamins). I got 210g of soaked wheat out of 70g of dry wheat.
On Sunday morning I put my wheat to boil so I had about an hour to prepare the dough. It was really easy since I only had to mix the flour, 100g of sugar, 100g of butter, 1 egg and 1 yolk! The dough was sent to the fridge for half an hour and I had some time to drink hot ginger tea.
After 30 minutes or so the wheat became soft enough for further steps. I drained the water, put the wheat to the pot and added 100g of milk, 15g of butter and the lemon peel. Then I boiled the mixture with cover till the wheat absorbed the milk. There was a pleasant lemon scent in the kitchen. I left the flavoured medley on the cooker and after it was cooled I mixed it with home-made ricotta, 2 eggs and 1 yolk, 200g of sugar, vanilline and raisins. It looked and smelled so delicious that I couldn't help trying.
After I bated my curiosity I turned my attention to the dough. I took it from the fridge and divided into 2 parts – 1 bigger and 1 smaller. The bigger part became the base for the future Pastiera Napoletana. I rolled out the circle and put it into the baking tray. Then I put my stuffing on the base and decorated the top of the cake with the smaller part of the dough.
There was only one thing to do – to bake the cake for about an hour at 170 degrees.
Pastiera Napoletana looked appetizing and it was surprisingly savoury. The whole family was enjoying my lovely cake in the evening while I was telling them the legend of Partenope!
The story behind this recipeOnce I ran across a literary contest. It said that those who wanted to take the first prize should write a short story about culinary traditions of various regions of Italy. The first prize was a trip to Italy. It just stroke me like lightning, since this kind of adventure was always my dream.
I'm not a writer or even a journalist. I have never written a word which could be worth reading by audience, but I'm extremely passionate for Italy. As far as I'm concerned, Italy has a rich culture in everything starting with language and ending with cuisine. Italy gives me a divine inspiration at all times.
So I didn't think for too long. I took my laptop, turned on some Italian music (Solenzara, Santa Lucia, Tarantella) and started creating my masterpiece. It took me about two days to almost complete the story for the contest. The story was about a girl who had a messy divorce and couldn't come to her senses. Once she had nothing to lose, she decided to move to Naples for three months to attend cooking classes.
I said «almost complete» because there was only one thing which prevented me from finishing. For a happy ending I needed a special recipe – traditional and extraordinary at the same time. I rummaged through the Internet but couldn't find anything suitable for my story.
Finally I came across a legend about Partenope and famous Pastiera. That was exactly what I needed!
I didn't win the first prize in the competition, but I got the book of Italian recipes, which was also a great pleasure for me?
And now I consider it's highly symbolic for me to cook this very pie. I do believe Pastiera Napoletana will bring me to victory one day!
