NATICK — Eggs might be the most visible — and colorful — symbol of Easter, but for Italian cooks, ricotta is a close second. Italian holiday traditions bring both sweet and savory ricotta pies, cakes, and cannoli.
Leticia Farrice, manager of Lola’s Italian Groceria in the center of town here, grew up in New York and remembers her grandmother’s Easter pies, both a savory pizza rustica, with ricotta, eggs, diced meats, and cheeses, and sweet ricotta pie for dessert. The latter was Farrice’s favorite, but sadly, she says, “I never got the recipe.” Instead, she adapted one from a Natick Sons of Italy cookbook.
Ricotta is technically not a cheese (but try convincing a ricotta-loving Italian of that) — it is a byproduct made from whey, the protein-rich liquid that separates from curds during cheesemaking. When the whey is heated (ricotta means “recooked”), soft white curds float on the surface of the liquid. These get scooped up and drained, yielding rich, creamy ricotta. It can be made from cow, sheep, goat, or buffalo milk, and tastes mild, slightly sweet and nutty. The texture can be moist and almost fluffy or dry and slightly grainy.
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The filling for ricotta pie is typically a simple mixture of ricotta, eggs, and sugar, flavored with vanilla and lemon rind; it can also be gussied up with golden raisins soaked in Marsala, mini chocolate chips, or candied citrus peel. Some bakers completely surround the custard with pastry, and Farrice understands the appeal of a double crust. “Sometimes the filling cracks,” she says. For fastidious cheesecake bakers, a golden top crust hides the imperfections.
Dessert pies might also incorporate cooked spaghetti, rice, or wheat berries. The Neapolitan Easter specialty pastiera di grano, or simply pastiera, is a double-crust pie, usually with lattice top, filled with sweet ricotta studded with soft-chewy grains of wheat (“grano” means grain in Italian). David Maione, owner of Waltham’s La Campania, whose parents come from Naples, says his family soaks wheat buds in milk for three days at the end of Lent. “It symbolizes life and rebirth,” he says of the grains. Flower water, or “millefiori” (meaning a thousand flowers), flavors the filling. Plain ricotta pie, without grains, was added to his family’s Easter dessert table, says Maione, “because there’s a faction of the family who don’t like the buds and citron in the pie.”
For Antonietta Baffa of Wellesley, whose parents hail from Salerno, “anything with ricotta is Easter,” she says. To make her mother’s recipe for torta di pastiera, she, along with most Italian bakers, purchases canned grano cotto (cooked wheat grain). “When I find the grano, then I make [pastiera],” says Baffa, who flavors the pie with grated orange peel and vanilla.
Some families enjoy cannoli, the popular tubes of fried dough filled with sweetened ricotta, at Easter. A less widely known Sicilian treat is cassata, composed of layers of sponge or pound cake spread with sweetened ricotta and candied fruit or bits of chocolate, and spiked with liqueur.
Savory meat and cheese pie is a traditional part of the Italian Easter menu. Depending on where one’s family is from, it might be called pizza rustica, pizza gaina or pizzagiena, pizza piena (“piena” means full), or pizza chiena. Maione says the various names come from different Italian dialects and Americanized pronunciations and spellings. His mother, Giuseppina Maione, makes “pizza chiena” (pronounced “kee-enna”) with ricotta, sharp provolone, grated Romano, diced soppressata, and bits of prosciutto. “It looks like a cake,” he says. Consider it an over-the-top Italian-style quiche.
If you want to try your hand at making ricotta, a simple recipe that doesn’t require leftover whey involves curdling heated milk and cream with a little lemon juice (or vinegar). You scoop out the curds and let them drain in a cheesecloth-lined sieve. In addition to lending creaminess to lasagna, manicotti, pies, and cannoli, ricotta is a delectable spread, perfected by a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt and black pepper. For dessert, pair it with fresh fruit or a spoonful of honey. (Fresh mint or basil is optional.) When baking or cooking with ricotta, it’s best to remove all excess liquid in the draining process; if not, you’ll end up with runny pies and custards.
Neither Baffa nor Farrice makes ricotta; they seek out their favorite brands. Baffa looks for Galbani in small Italian markets and Farrice uses Polly-O. “The creamiest ricotta ever,” says Farrice.
At the Easter table, “you learn about the people who came before you and the link to the foods of the past,” Maione says. “It makes you remember your family. That’s what the ricotta pie can do.”
For Easter, Lola’s Italian Groceria in Natick sells pizza gaina (savory ricotta pie with diced meats and cheeses, $27.95) and sweet ricotta pie (10-inch, single or double crust, $13.95). Call ahead to order at 508-651-0524.
Lisa Zwirn can be reached at lisa@lisazwirn.com.