Mum’s Open Ricotta Pie

Hey everyone, hope you’re all doing great. I feel rested after a week-long break up in the Lake District. We’ve been there before but this last trip has been the most enjoyable. I read two books (even though I packed five of them in my backpack – and I’m continuously wondering why my back problems have gotten worse during the past few months), explored Derwent Water and its surroundings, cried like a baby with joy when I saw all those adorable little lambs, soaked up the Sun (it was warmer than Malta for a few days), had coffee and afternoon tea and indulged in good pub lunches and ice cream. It was one of the most peaceful weeks in my life. I kept technology usage to a minimum; most of the time we didn’t have any mobile or Wi-Fi signal anyway, and frankly I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I did the basic stuff in the evenings at the cottage where we stayed in and that’s it. Bliss.

The icing on the cake was an unexpected stop in Guildford on Saturday, after five hours driving down from Cumbria to Surrey, in the afternoon, with a few hours to spare to meet up with my lovely friend Fifi and my bro-in-law for a chat over coffee. We managed to call each of them early afternoon so it was like a pleasant surprise to see them. We then drove down to Gatwick for our evening flight. We were tired, was about to say pooped but kinda stopped, J especially so as he was doing all the driving bits.

At least we had a nice ride – a Fiat 500X Off-Road (for all you petrol heads out there) and he made the most of it. While I was happy to spend some days sipping coffee and eating pastries around the Queen of the Lakes, J went up some hills and Haystacks. Wainwright’s mountain. I will post some photos of our trip later on in future posts, the majority of my pics were taken with my phone, for practicality first and foremost. It was much easier and lighter than the SLR of course, which for this particular trip was perfect. And to be honest I just wanted to soak in every little bit of the atmosphere and couldn’t care less about getting that perfect picture, because frankly I was already in the perfect place.

Anyways, as is very usual of me I blabber endlessly before I get to the point. I visited mum this morning and I found her in cooking mode. She was making a number of these ricotta pies. My auntie M makes copious quantities of shortcrust pastry which frankly is so convenient to have on hand. I haven’t made shortcrust myself in quite a while and with the hot summer months soon on our doorstep I won’t be making it any time soon. I think a call to my auntie is in order.

This photo was taken a few weeks ago when I came back home with a baby pie, perfect to share between two for a light lunch. Today I just took notes on my trusty Google Keep and managed to eyeball some of the quantities for you and me. My mum almost never measures. Let me rephrase that. She never does, she used to, but it’s been years since I saw her using scales. I’m not judging, I never mean any harm. I’m just saying in case you’re wondering why I use approximately or about too much in this recipe.

The seasoning here is totally up to you. Just taste the mixture before adding any eggs. Of course, don’t sprinkle any sesame seeds on the pie if you’re allergic to them. I’m writing this because I have friends for whom these are a no-no, you know, just in case! Below you’ll find a wee list of past pie-related recipes on this blog for you to find easily for further reference.

More pie and tart recipes on C&T:

Double-crusted Apple Pie

Puff Pastry Apple Tart

My Ricotta and Spinach Pie

Savoury Pies

Leftover Shortcrust with Chocolate Sauce

Mum’s Ricotta Pie

For the pastry:

• Around 1kg of pre-prepared shortcrust pastry (bought from the store or have someone else make it for you. There’s no harm in that.)

For the filling:

• 1 kg fresh ricotta
• chunks of freshly chopped parsley
• plenty of grated hard cheese
• salt
• pepper
• milk to thin the mixture a little
• 1 to 2 beaten eggs, depending on their size

For brushing the sides:

• 1 beaten egg

For the topping:

• plenty of sesame seeds (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a small pie dish with a very thin layer of butter and flour. Roll out the pastry and place it at the bottom and sides of the dish.

Tip in the ricotta in a mixing bowl, add the parsley, grated cheese, salt and pepper. Give the mixture a taste, adding more seasoning if necessary. Then add the milk and beaten egg and mix the ingredients until combined.

Top the pastry with the ricotta filling and sprinkle plenty of sesame seeds. Brush the sides with the milk or egg and bake until the pastry turns a golden colour and the ricotta filling turns a lovely pale yellow with a soft crispness on the top.

Leave the pie to cool a little before serving.

Tips: this pie can be assembled, covered and placed in the freezer to be cooked later. Also you will probably have enough pastry to cover the pies. If so, roll out the pastry, cover the pies and lastly sprinkle the seeds onto the surface.

Enjoy.

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