Italian Easter Rice Pie
Italian Easter Rice Pie, or Torta di Riso di Pasqua, is a traditional Italian Easter dessert made with creamy Arborio rice, ricotta cheese, eggs, sugar, and citrus baked in a buttery crust. The filling has a rich, custard-like texture with a delicate sweetness, making this classic Italian pie a beautiful dessert for Easter.
Ingredients
For the pasta frolla ( pastry dough)
- 3 1/2 cups of flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 eggs + 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 stick room temperature butter
- zest and juice from one lemon
For the Filling
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 3 cups milk
- 1 lemon and 1 piece orange peel
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 2 cups ricotta
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup candied citron or candied lemon peel
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- powder sugar for dusting
Instructions
Make The Pasta Frolla (the pastry dough)
- In a food processer add the flour, sugar, and baking powder. Pulse until well combined.
- Add the eggs, egg yolks, and butter and pulse until , large moist crumbs start to form (1-2 minutes)
- Remove dough from the food processer onto a smooth surface. And with your hands knead the dough gently into a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour .
Make the Filling
- Add the rice, orange peel, vanilla and cinnamon to the milk. Simmer over medium high heat for 30 minutes, stirring often to keep the mixture from sticking to the pan, cook until the rice is cooked and most of the milk as been absorbed. Remove the orange peel. Add the butter to the rice and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Then spread out on a baking tray and let cool.
- If the ricotta has a lot of liquid in it , drain it in a colander
- In a large bowl , beat the ricotta with the sugar until light, then add the eggs one at a time beating until well combined after each addition. Then add the orange extract and mix until well combined.
- Once the rice has cooled completely, add it to the ricotta mixture slowly a few spoons at a time. Mix with a wooden spoon until the rice is fully incorporated into the filling. Set aside
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8 inch springform pan or pie pan.
- On a lightly floured surface cut the dough in half roll out one half of the dough to about 1/2 inch thick. Transfer to the prepared pan, and cut off any hanging edges. fill with the filling.
- Roll out the remaining dough to 1/2 inch thickness and cut into 10 about 6 inch long strips, make a lattice pattern with the dough strips.
- Bake the Pie for 50-60 minutes, or until the edges are golden. Let the pie cool then dust with powder sugar.