Italian Neapolitan Pastiera

Italian Neapolitan Pastiera is a popular, traditional dessert eaten during Easter in the Naples area of southern Italy. It’s made with cooked wheat berries, ricotta cheese and candied citrus fruit and little prep time!

Italian Easter Desserts

My late parents were from the Neapolitan area of Italy and all of my extended family still lives there. I have been lucky enough to spend one Easter in Italy with my family. That’s where I learned of Italian Easter Pie, the savory quiche like pie with prosciutto and Italian cheeses and Pastiera.

When my family came to visit one Easter, my cousin made Pastiera and it was delicious. It’s not a cake per se. It’s more like a pie, because it contains a filling. It certainly is a dessert but, I want to make the distinction because Italian Easter Pie can have different meanings.

As I mentioned above, Pastiera is a traditional Italian dessert eaten at Easter in the Neapolitan area of southern Italy, where a lot of Italy’s finest cuisine comes from. Many of my Italian recipes are inspired or were passed down from my Italian family.

It’s made with cooked wheat berries or “grano cotto,” ricotta cheese and is primarily flavored with citrus- orange, lemon and citron. It’s wonderful that Italian traditions continue in the US and around the world as they connect us to our culture and heritage.

However, Pastiera can be made with rice instead of cooked wheat berries. That too is delicious and a good alternative if you’re unable to obtain the cooked wheat berries.

Also, the wheat berries are sold dried and not cooked. If you buy them dried, you’ll need to cook them for two hours prior to making the recipe. Therefore, it’s easier to just buy the jarred cooked wheat berries.

To save time and make this recipe easier, I use Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust but, you can certainly make a homemade pie crust. The pie filling is rather easy to make, but it does have quite a few steps. Read the recipe through before starting.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links which means, if you make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission but, the price you pay is the same. 

Italian Neapolitan Pastiera

I had difficulty finding cooked wheat berries in my local Italian stores, so I just bought two jars on Amazon. I’ll save one for next Easter as the expiration dates permitted doing so.

Ingredients

Wheat Berry Mixture

• 2 cups cooked wheat berries (grano cotto)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tbsp orange zest
• 1 tbsp lemon zest

Ricotta Mixture

• 20 oz whole milk ricotta
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 4 oz candied citron
• 2 tbsp orange blossom water (optional)
• 2 large egg whites

Assembly and Decoration

• 2 refrigerated pie crusts
• 1 tsp powdered sugar

You can also buy the candied fruit on Amazon however, I bought mine at the grocery store in the marked down area of the produce section for cheap, because it’s after the holiday baking season. I bought it for just 89 cents for a 4 ounce package! It was within the expiration date too. 

Some recipes call for both candied orange and candied citron but, I just used the citron because I add orange zest to the recipe for the orange flavor and find that to be enough.

 

 

Orange Blossom Water is a common ingredient in pastiera however, you can omit it and still have a great-tasting pastiera. I made it optional in my recipe for three reasons.

One, it costs about $10 for 10 oz, of which you only need one ounce to make this recipe .

Two, I likely won’t use it in another recipe other than pastiera.

Three, you can get good orange flavor from fresh orange zest or even orange extract so, why spend the money?

Instructions

*The full, printable instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Please rate (star) the recipe in the recipe card if you make it. 

First, add cooked wheat berries (grano cotto) (16 oz.) to a medium sized sauce pan. Add milk (1 cup), vanilla (1 tsp), ground cinnamon (1 tsp,) orange zest (1/2 tbsp) and lemon zest (1 tbsp). Cook on high heat until it begins to boil, then put heat down to medium and cook another 10-15 minutes. Let cool.

Preheat oven to 340F.

Next, in a large mixing bowl add ricotta cheese (20 oz) and sugar (1 cup.) Mix and then add two egg yolks and continue to mix.

Then, add candied citron (4 oz) to the ricotta mixture and mix.

Next, in a separate mixing bowl, beat the two egg whites on the highest speed until stiff peaks form (a few minutes and the egg whites should stand freely when the beaters are removed.)

Then, add the cooked wheat berries mixture to the ricotta mixture and mix in the egg whites. Mix until combined.

 

Next, this will make it creamier but, is an optional step. Using a hand blender, blend the mixture to chop up the wheat berries some (about 30 seconds on high speed.) You can pour mixture into a blender if you don’t have a hand blender. Don’t over blend.

Then, line a 10 inch springform pan with one pie crust and bring up the sides.

Next, pour the mixture into the pie crust.

Then, add the second crust on top and join the pie crusts and gently press them together as shown.

Next, bake at 340F for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Let it cool for several hours or overnight. Store in the refrigerator.

This delicious Italian dessert is a staple in the Neapolitan area of southern Italy. Don’t be intimidated by its various steps as it’s much easier than you think. Remember, you can always make a practice one. Make it and enjoy it with your family for Easter.

You may also like:

Italian Easter Bread Pane di Pasqua

St. Joseph’s Day Pastry

Authentic Italian Tiramisu

See more Italian recipes.