Dessert - Easter ricotta grain pie with chestnut honey sauce Recipe

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Ingredients

Ricotta grain pie
• 4 (9-inch) premade pie crusts, 2 to line the sides and bottom of spring form pan, and 2 to make the lattice crust topping
• 15 ounces whole-milk ricotta or impastata (a dryer ricotta)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon orange flower water (optional)
• 6 eggs, separated (reserve 4 egg whites)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup pearl barley, boiled until tender, about 30 minutes, refrigerate to cool, and set aside
Chestnut honey sauce
• 1/4 cup mild honey
• 1/2 cup chestnut honey
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon, about 1 teaspoon
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Preparation

Step 1

For ricotta pie:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk ricotta, sugar, cinnamon and orange flower water. Whisk in egg yolks and vanilla. In a separate bowl, beat 4 egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold into cooled barley.

Pour the filling into pastry-lined spring form pan.

Roll out the remaining dough into 9 x 13-inch sheet, 1/2-inch thick, and cut into 3/4-inch-wide diagonal strips. Arrange strips diagonally and very loosely over filling and over sides of spring form pan. Arrange remaining strips in opposite direction to form a lattice top.

Trim off the excess pastry and using fork, pinch ends of the lattice strips to the pastry lining.

Bake on middle shelf of oven for 1 hour, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. The filling will puff up during baking and will retract when cooled.

Let pie rest and cool completely then refrigerate overnight. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve with warm chestnut honey sauce.

For chestnut honey sauce:

Heat the honey in a small saucepan until bubbles appear, then add lemon juice and zest of lemon.

Turn off heat, add butter and whisk into honey until all is melted, smooth and combined. Brush or spoon onto grain pie.