Food Network: Pastiera Napoletana

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Pastiera Napoletana
Recipe Courtesy of Nick Malgieri

Ingredients
Pasta Frolla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 stick unsalted butter
2 large eggs

Cooked Wheat Kernels
1/2 cup hulled wheat kernels
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter

Pastry Cream
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ricotta Filling
1 cup (1/2 pound) whole milk ricotta
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon orange flower water

1/2 cup diced candied orange peel
Cinnamon
Egg wash: One egg well beaten with a pinch of salt

Directions
For the Pasta Frolla, combine dry ingredients in food
processor and pulse to mix. Cut butter into 8 pieces and add. Pulse to mix in
finely. Add eggs and pulse until dough forms a ball. Remove from work bowl, wrap
and chill dough.

Soak the wheat in water to cover overnight if possible. Drain the wheat and place
in a pan with salt and water to cover by 3 to 4 inches and simmer until tender,
about 2 hours. Add water as necessary to keep from drying out and sticking. Cool
and refrigerate until needed.

For the pastry cream, combine sugar and flour in a small, non-reactive saucepan.
Stir well to mix and add the milk, slowly, whisking it in smoothly. Whisk in the
egg. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the pastry cream thickens and
comes to a boil. Boil, stirring vigorously, about 1/2 minute. Remove from heat,
stir in vanilla and scrape into a clean bowl. Press plastic wrap against the
surface and chill.

For the filling, place ricotta in a mixing bowl and stir the cooled pastry cream
to make a smooth, creamy mixture; stir in the sugar, eggs and remaining
ingredients. Stir in the cooked wheat kernels.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and set a rack in the lowest level. Butter a 9-inch
cake pan, 2-inches deep. To assemble, cut off 1/3 of the Pasta Frolla and reserve

it. Roll the 2/3 of the dough into a 14-inch disk and line the prepared pan with
it. Allow the dough to hang over the edge of the pan. Pour in the filling and
sprinkle it with the cinnamon. Roll the remaining 1/3 of the dough into a 10-inch
square. Cut it into 10 1-inch wide strips. Paint the strips with the egg wash.
Moisten the rim of the dough on the pan with the egg wash, and adhere 5 strips in
each direction, forming a diagonal lattice. Trim away any excess dough even with
the top of the pan and push the dough all around off the top rim of the pan so
that it is completely within the pan.

Bake about 45 minutes, until the filling is set and the pastry is light golden.
Cool in the pan before unmolding. To unmold, invert onto a flat plate, lift off
the pan, replace the pan with another plate or platter, then re-invert, so that
the Pastiera is right side up. Serve the Pastiera at room temperature.