ricotta pie

Best Italian Ricotta Pie Recipe is a classic, traditional recipe – often served at Easter time. This sweet ricotta pie has a creamy ricotta filling flavored with lemon zest and a hint of almond and vanilla all inside a super easy pie shell.

Italian Ricotta Pie Recipe (Easter) 

recipe

2 cups ricotta whole milk, well-drained (about 15 oz)

5 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

almond extract

vanilla extract

4 eggs, room temperature

cream

Make the pasta frolla dough and set in fridge while preparing the filling. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place oven rack to bottom third.

Make filling: If your ricotta has extra water strain it (see notes)

Start by whipping the ricotta in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or a large mixing bowl using a hand held electric mixer. Whip as you would whipped cream- very smooth consistency.

Then, add the sugar and mix again. Add the eggs one by one to the ricotta mixture- scraping down the sides of the bowl when needed.

Add the almond and vanilla extract and lemon zest, mix to incorporate.

Roll out the dough to fit your pie plate (9-inch). The thickness should be about 1/8 of an inch. Carefully fold over and fit into your pie pan.

Optional step: Decorate with strips of dough and brush tops of dough strips with egg wash.

Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until the center filling is set. Place foil on the edge of crust to prevent over-browning (if needed).

Cool completely, about 2 hours, on a wire rack and refrigerate until serving. If desired, top with freshly whipped cream. Enjoy!

This is the BEST ricotta pie. It is perfectly smooth with the best lemon and almond flavor!

I can eat this for breakfast as well as dessert!

Loved this recipe, so simple, creamy and delicious. I don’t love almond extract flavor so I halved that and added a bit more vanilla.

A creamy ricotta filling with a hint of lemon and almond is baked inside of a sweet Italian pie pastry. Typically served on Easter, but not exclusively, this Ricotta Pie is the star of the show at any meal. The ricotta typically needs to be strained, so prepare ahead of time since this process takes at least 8 hours in the refrigerator or overnight. Please also note this pie requires a 9" deep-dish pie pan.

Ricotta Pie

(360 grams) all-purpose flour

(60 grams) powdered sugar

baking powder

lemon zest

salt

unsalted butter

eggs

(150 grams) granulated sugar

lemon juice

Egg wash, for assembling

Add the flour, powdered sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and salt to the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until well combined.

Add in the butter and pulse 5-7 times, or until the butter is broken down into tiny pebbles.

With the motor running, add in the eggs and let the dough process until it forms together into a cohesive ball around the blade, about 1 minute.

Transfer the dough to a work surface dusted with flour. Divide the dough in half.

Roll out half of the dough to a rough 11″ circle and place inside of a 9″ deep-dish pie plate, tucking the ends of the pastry underneath themselves to form an edge. Pierce the bottom of the pastry multiple times with a fork to allow the steam to escape when baking. Place the pastry in the freezer to chill while the oven preheats, or at least 10 minutes.

Roll out the other half of the dough to a rough 10-inch circle. Place the pie dough on a flat surface (such as a sheet pan) that can fit in your refrigerator. Cover, and transfer to the refrigerator to chill.

Remove the bottom crust from the freezer and line the pastry with a round piece of parchment paper and then add pie weights to fill (or dry rice or beans or lentils), making sure to push pie weights up against the edges. Bake for 20 minutes on the lower rack, then remove from the oven and remove the parchment and pie weights. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Add the (strained) ricotta to a large bowl. Whip it with a whisk for 30 seconds until lightened. Add the sugar, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, and almond extract and whisk together until well combined.

Transfer the filling to the slightly cooled pie shell.

Whisk together an egg with a bit of water to make an egg wash.

Remove the rolled-out top crust from the refrigerator. Score the top crust with the fork in a lattice pattern by evenly pressing and dragging the fork on the pastry. You want to get a good score on it, but make sure not to cut through the pastry.

Brush the egg wash on the top crust as well as on the edges of the baked bottom pie crust (this will help the top crust seal to the edges). Transfer the top crust pastry on top of the ricotta filling. Seal the top crust into the edges, and cut off any excess dough.

Bake the pie on a rimmed baking sheet in the middle part of the oven for 40-50 minutes, or until the top is golden and shiny and the filling has just nearly puffed up throughout, leaving just a small portion in the middle that has not risen.

Let cool for at last 2 hours. Serve at room temperature or cold.

Excellent recipe. I tried and my pie came out perfect. Thank you 😊

Hiya! It isn't often I leave a comment but wow, this recipe was so great! I followed your instructions pretty much to the letter except for adjusting the temp down to suit my temperamental old oven but I'm used to that. Even your photo of the finished pie was right on in terms of color and texture. Mine wasn't quite as pretty because I trimmed the edges of the top crust a bit too close and turned it raggedy in spots, but it was close :) The scoring of the top crust and the egg wash cementing the two crusts together the way you suggested was a new trick on me and worked beautifully. Thanks so much! I've tried baking ricotta pies a few times and was never really satisfied with the result before. I'll definitely be writing this one down. Best wishes, KG

I used a 9"springform and crust is beautiful.   Good recipe.  I used orange as that's how my grandmother made it. Thank you for the recipe! 

I have one question:  Will it  change the integrity if I use less sugar?

I made as instructed except I did beat the ricotta several minutes until fluffy. I like the crust to be on the slightly crunchy side so I left it in the oven on the longer side, around 50 mins. A great bake and the ratios of the ingredients worked. But i did feel like it needed more robust flavor so I did make a glaze of apricot jam, a little sugar and Grand Marnier which made it very good. It was brushed on after the pie cooled. Thanks for a very good recipe.

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