Neapolitan Pastiera: the vegetarian recipe without lard

Neapolitan Pastiera: the unbeatable vegetarian recipe to prepare it with not very refined ingredients, without candied fruit, lard and artificial flavors

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Neapolitan Easter cake par excellence, of which every family has its own personal recipe, the pastiera it has very ancient origins and there are several legends about its creation that would also connect it to pagan rites. The most famous, the one for which it became a symbolic meal of providence, tells that some women, wives of Neapolitan fishermen, threw into the sea a basket with ricotta, wheat, eggs and orange blossom to ask the sea to be lenient with their husbands. . The following morning the basket containing a pastiera returned to shore and the men also returned safe and sound.

And the traditional recipe of the pastiera, not surprisingly, involves the use of wheat, candied fruit, orange blossom water and lard, the rest of the ingredients instead vary according to the production area.

For reasons of time and practicality, already cooked wheat is increasingly used, but if you want to use the raw wheat it will be necessary to wash it under running water, then put it in a pot full of cold water and once it reaches a boil it will have to be simmered for about an hour and a half. After turning off the fire, you will have to cover it with a lid and wrap everything with a blanket in order to retain the cooking heat for about twenty-four hours; after which you will have to rinse the cooked wheat again and then proceed to make the cream.

Our recipe does not include the use of candied fruit, but if you like it you can add it to the filling cream. Alternatively, you can also add some chocolate chips. The perfect cooking of the pastiera is very important for the success of the recipe, it must in fact be slow and at moderate heat to allow the cake to dry inside and amber on the surface.

Ingredients

1 L of milk
530 gr of brown sugar
390 1 grams of flour
125 grams of egg yolks
500 gr of sheep's ricotta
1 pinch of salt
500 grams of cooked wheat
215 g butter
ground cinnamon to taste
2 ml of orange flower water
organic lemon peel to taste
2 eggs

Preparation Time:
250 minutes
Cooking time:
60 minutes
Rest time:
12 hours
Dose:
6 people to
Difficulty:
low

How to prepare the Neapolitan pastiera: procedure

Prepare the custard by putting the egg yolks in a thick-bottomed pan with one hundred and twenty-five grams of sugar, mix them together then add forty grams of flour and then pour in half a liter of milk and orange flower water, mixing, at the same time,
place on the stove over medium heat and stirring constantly, make it thicken, when cooked, cover with cling film in contact and allow to cool completely.

To put the wheat previously worked in a thick-bottomed pan together with the remaining half liter of milk, fifteen grams of sugar and fifteen grams of butter, the lemon peel and cinnamon, cook over low heat and stir frequently until completely absorbed the milk, then, if you like it, pass it all with an immersion blender and let it cool.

Prepare the shortcrust pastry putting the remaining flour with the butter in a bowl, work them together until a sandy and moist mixture is obtained, then add the eggs, ninety grams of sugar and the lemon peel and work quickly until everything is compacted, wrap the shortcrust pastry in cling film and leave to rest in the refrigerator for about half an hour.

Meantime sift the ricotta, mix it with the three hundred grams of sugar and a pinch of salt, then mix it with the custard and cream of wheat.

Passed the rest time resume the pastry, flatten three / quarters of it between two sheets of parchment paper with a rolling pin, remove the top sheet, cover the mold with the shortcrust pastry just flattened and gently remove the remaining sheet,

trim the edges, stuff with the freshly mixed creams, flatten the remaining pastry and with a preferably notched wheel cut into long and narrow strips,

and with these decorate the cake on the surface forming rhombuses.
Bake and bake in a hot oven at 160 ° for about two hours or in any case until completely dry, it will be useful to perform the classic toothpick test to check it.

Cooking when finished, remove from the oven and let the pastiera rest for twelve hours before turning it out very gently.

How to preserve the Neapolitan pastiera:

The Neapolitan pastiera must be kept in the refrigerator for two / three days and before serving it must be allowed to cool a little to room temperature.

You may also be interested in the vegan recipe of the Neapolitan pastiera or other Easter recipes such as Salento Puddhrica Follow your Telegram | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Youtube Read also: