Double Crusted Ricotta Pie Food

DOUBLE-CRUSTED RICOTTA PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment; spray parchment. Mix together ricotta, confectioners' sugar, yolks, salt, zest, cherries, and anise in a bowl.
• Let dough sit at room temperature 15 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out smaller disk of dough 1/8 inch thick; using pan as guide, cut out an 8-inch round. Chill until firm. Meanwhile, roll out larger disk to an 11-inch round, about 1/4 inch thick; fit into bottom and up sides of pan, pressing and patching dough as needed.
• Spread filling over dough. Fold sides of dough over filling. Brush beaten egg over folded sides. Top with 8-inch disk; brush with beaten egg and sprinkle evenly with pistachios and granulated sugar. Chill 30 minutes. Bake on a baking sheet until golden, about 1 hour (tent with foil if browning too quickly). Let cool completely on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cut into wedges; serve with sauce.

RICOTTA PIE (OLD ITALIAN RECIPE)

Steps:

• Beat the 12 eggs, 2 cups sugar and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. Stir in the ricotta cheese and the chocolate chips, if using (see Cook's Note). Set aside.
• Combine the flour, baking powder, and 1 cup sugar together. Cut in 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in 4 beaten eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Divide dough into 4 balls, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease two deep-dish pie plates.
• Roll out 2 of the balls to fit into the pie pans. Do not make the crust too thick, as it will expand during cooking. Do not flute the edges of the dough. Roll out the other 2 balls of dough and cut each into 8 narrow strips for the top of the crust. (Alternately, you can use cookie cutters and place the cutouts on the top of the pies.)
• Pour the ricotta filling evenly into the pie crusts. Top each pie with 8 narrow strips of dough or cookie cut-outs. Brush top of pie with milk for shine, if desired. Place foil on the edge of crust.
• Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes; remove foil. Rotate pies on the rack so they will bake evenly. Continue to bake until a knife inserted in the center of each pie comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes more. Cool completely on wire racks. Refrigerate until serving.

DOUBLE-CRUST PIE DOUGH

Steps:

• Place flour and salt in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some blueberry-size clumps.
• Beat together egg, ice water, and vinegar in a small bowl. Add to flour mixture and pulse just until incorporated, about 10 times more. Squeeze a small amount of dough to make sure it holds together. If dough is too dry, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap, forming each into 1 disk. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.

ITALIAN RICOTTA PIE

Steps:

• To make crust, mix flour and salt in medium bowl.
• Cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
• Stir in egg yolk and water.
• Roll out, place crust in 10" glass pie plate and flute the edges.
• For filling, combine ricotta cheese, flour, salt, lemon and orange rinds and vanilla.
• Beat in eggs and add sugar gradually.
• Pour filling into crust and bake at 350° until firm and light brown (approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes).

RICOTTA PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375ºF
• 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.

CHOCOLATE RICOTTA PIE

Steps:

• For the crust: In the bowl of a food processor combine the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, cornmeal, salt, and 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, and pulse to grind. Add the butter and pulse, just until the mixture forms a dough. Press the dough over the bottom and about 2 inches up the sides of an 11-inch diameter tart pan with a removable bottom. Refrigerate until the dough is firm, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line the tart dough with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake the tart shell in the lower third of the oven until just set, about 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and pie weights. Bake the shell again until golden, about 10 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
• For the filling: Add the chocolate to a double boiler, over very softly simmering water and heat until melted.
• Combine the water with the sugar in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and cool.
• Add the ricotta cheese and cream cheese in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add the egg and egg yolks, 1 at a time, and process until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and the sugar syrup and pulse until combined. Pour the custard into the tart shell and bake until the custard is just set, about 30 minutes. Scatter the remaining 1/4 cup of chopped hazelnuts on top of the filling. Let the tart cool completely before serving.
• The tart can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Return the tart to room temperature before serving.

QUICK & EASY RICOTTA PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll out one crust, and place in a 9 inch pie plate. Roll out top crust, and cut into lattice strips; set aside.
• In a large bowl, blend ricotta, eggs, sugar, and whiskey. Pour into pie crust. Top with lattice strips in a woven pattern. Seal and crimp edge.
• Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until crust is golden brown and filling is set.

PERFECT PIE CRUST FOR DOUBLE CRUST PIE

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, stir together flour and salt. Cut in shortening using a pastry blender or fork until shortening is in pea-sized pieces (I usually use my hand crank chopper to do this).
• Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing with fork in between, until all of the flour mixture is moistened and can be formed into a ball. Divide mixture in half.
• At this point, you can roll dough into a 12 inch circle on a lightly floured surface, but I prefer to tape a 12 inch square piece of waxed paper to my work surface with double sided tape, put my dough on that, then cover with another piece of waxed paper, and roll out.
• When dough is in a circle as big as your waxed paper (ie 12 inch circle), peel off the top layer of waxed paper and discard.
• Lift the dough and bottom layer of waxed paper up and invert onto your pie pan. Gently peel the waxed paper off.
• Do the same with the other 1/2 of your dough to make your top crust.
• Before placing pie in the oven, wrap a 3 inch wide strip of foil around the edge of your crust, allowing 2 inches to fold over the top of your pie. 1/2 way through your bake time, carefully pull the foil off and finish baking. Your crust will turn out perfect every time!