Ricotta Pie at Kathy’s

Kathy’s Ricotta pie gives you a filling with the creaminess of a cheese cake and the flavors of an Italian cannoli without all the work. My favorite part of this recipe is the cookie crust crunch that brings it all together! You just can’t go wrong here making this incredible dessert that’s also ideal for breakfast.

Ricotta pie is really a traditional Italian dessert served at Easter. There are so many different versions of ricotta pie out there. Both the filling and the crust vary from cook to cook and family to family who treasure this little treat. That’s what makes each recipe so special because it becomes very personalized. Whether it’s adding orange zest, lemon zest, cranberries or even Marsala wine to the crust to make it more in sink with the makings of a cannoli shell the avenues of creativity are endless.

Enjoy the show and I have a feeling this could very well be on your next dinner table! Not to mention, this would be a great little dessert to bring to any party. You might get a little ambitious and want to try some Cold Cucumber Soup with Seared Scallops, Lobster Mac & Cheese,  Salmon B.L.T. Sliders or Shrimp Scampi to go along with this delicious ricotta pie!

 

 

 

Ingredients for Crust:

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 4 T vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla

Directions for Crust:

1. Combine dry ingredients in the bowl of a mixer
2. Combine liquid ingredients together and add to dry ingredients
3. Mix on low setting until just combined
4. Turn out onto a generously floured surface
5. Shape into a ball
6. Reserve 1/4 cup of the dough and set aside for cutting out small shapes to decorate the top of the pie on the ricotta filling…stars, leaves, hearts
7. Roll into a circle to fit a standard pie plate, dough will be very soft
8. You want the dough to be about 1/4″ thick
9. Use rolling pin to transfer crust to pie plate

Ingredients for Filling:

• 1 lb ricotta cheese – Whole Milk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions for Filling – Pre-Heat Oven to 350º:

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir or whisk together ricotta, egg, sugar, and vanilla
2. Fold in raisins and chocolate chips
3. Pour into crust
4. Roll out the reserved pie dough, use cookie cutters to cut out shapes to decorate the top of the filling
5. Bake for 45-55 minutes just til crust is golden
6. Remember as with baking a cheese cake the center should not be set …it should look jiggly in the center not set!
7. Don’t worry, It will set up a considerable amount more as it cool
8. Can serve warm, room temperature, or chilled
9. Cool for 1 hour on the counter, wrap and cool or store in refrigerator
10. Options – can use all chocolate chips or all raisins, or sweetened dried cranberries with orange or lemon zest

 

Greek Baklava at Maria’s

You’ll know why this Greek Baklava is considered “The Dessert of the Gods” when you bite into the rich flavor of the walnuts, the sticky, syrupy bottom and the buttery-flaky top layers. Not to mention, hearing that sizzling as you pour the cooled honey syrup over the hot baked phyllo dough with layers of ground walnuts, cinnamon and cloves will make you mouth water!

It’s truly amazing how the top layers of the Greek baklava soak up that honey-syrup yet remain flaky and stay drier then those sticky and syrupy bottom layers of the Greek baklava -the perfect combination. The trick here to not having a gooey, soggy baklava is to make sure the baked baklava is hot and the honey-syrup is cooled. It’s important that they’re not both hot.

Looking at the gorgeous golden layers of phyllo and walnuts in the Greek Baklava you’ll automatically think that this may be too difficult to make. On the contrary, the Gods are very forgiving here because this really is a fail safe dish! Phyllo dough can be temperamental whether it’s your first time working with it or your hundredth . That fact is, it won’t matter whether you are layering with a piece that has a rip in it or not because the buttery layers completely flake up and turn golden when the are baked and you just can’t tell.

It was such a fun afternoon at my dear friend Maria’s house learning how to make her amazing Greek Baklava. I’m grateful she shared a family recipe that holds much tradition for the holidays. I hope you can add this incredible dish to your parties and or holiday’s too. Who knows, maybe some day I will get Maria to share with us her Moussaka recipe!

If you are craving the exotic Mediterranean flavors you should definitely try the yogurt chicken kabobs with roasted grape tomatoes, tzatziki and garlic toum that may be the most flavor chicken you will ever have to go with this lovely Greek Baklava. What a perfect dinner that would be! Or you could mix it up a little going down the road to Italy with my lazy-mans lasagna, homemade pasta, or spaghetti and a secret meatballs recipe from New Haven Apizza and Bakery! Enjoy 🙂

Baklava Ingredients:

• 1 lb walnuts – pulsed finely in the food processor
• 1 package phyllo dough thawed over night in the frig
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 dash of ground clove
• 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter (melted but not HOT)

 Syrup

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup honey
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1/2 of a lemon
• A lemon peel, a 1″ x 2″ piece

Directions for Syrup:

1. NOTE: Make the syrup first and let it cool down while you are working on the baklava
2. Add all the syrup ingredients to a saucepan over medium-high and heat bring to a simmer
3. Simmer for about 10 minutes until a froth is formed
4. Pour into a glass Pyrex (heat proof) measuring cup or similar to let COOL and set aside

Directions for Baklava:

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2. Pulse the walnuts in your food processor until they are finely chopped and put them into a bowl
3. Add the cinnamon and clove to the walnuts and mix with a spoon to combine
4. Use a brush to apply butter to the bottom and sides of a 13 x 9 pan
5. Place a layer of the phyllo dough then brush the top of the phyllo dough with butter
6. Repeat 8 times (total bottom layer 8-9)
7. Spread about 3/4 of a cup of the walnut mixture at a time
8. Add 2 more layers of phyllo dough and brush butter in between each layer
9. Add another layer of walnuts and repeat process 3 more times or until nuts are gone
10. Add 8-9 layers of buttered phyllo dough for the topping
11. Make sure to butter the final top layer
12. Cut the baklava into 3″ x 3″ squares with a very sharp knife, then slice those squares on a diagonal
13. Bake for approx. 50 minutes until golden
14. When the baklava comes out of the oven pour the COOLED syrup over the HOT baklava immediately and hear that wonderful sizzle
15. Allow the baklava time to absorb the honey-syrup, about 2-3 hours or overnight
16. Do not refrigerate, or cover, just tent loosely with foil and you can leave out on the counter for up to 1 week, although it won’t last that long lol …enjoy 🙂
17. Try crumbling the baklava over a bowl of vanilla ice cream…mmm!