Sweet ricotta pie is among the most popular Italian desserts, particularly for serving at Easter, so much so that it is often called Easter Ricotta Pie or even simply Easter Pie. The delicious pie is made with a sweet cookie-like crust called Pasta Frolla, which is of course the vessel for the creamy ricotta filling.
I did not grow up with Ricotta cheese pie as a child. I learned to love the Italian dessert working in Italian restaurants. Not all had the classic sweet pie dough, so after consulting a few vintage cookbooks and a bit of experimenting over the years. I feel I have the best Italian ricotta pie... at least in my biased opinion.
Easter Ricotta Pie: An Italian Easter Tradition
For many Italian families, the Easter meal is not complete without their favorite pie of the holiday, an authentic Italian ricotta pie. The creamy pie with it's sweet crust called pasta frolla, is something you get from an Italian bakery or from a baking yourself from a family recipe.
Pasta Frolla
Pasta Frolla is simply Italian for shortcrust pastry [ref]. It is what is used in authentic Italian ricotta pie recipes, and you really need to try your hand at it if you want to make the best ricotta pie.
As ricotta filling is quite easy to make, many are tempted to use a store bought ready to bake premade crust. The resulting pies are not bad, but they pale in comparison to making it yourself. A real pasta frolla crust has lemon zest, eggs and sugar in it. The pie crust for a true Italian recipe, really needs to be made from scratch.
How to Make Italian Ricotta Easter Pie
Let's get to making this
Equipment: 9 inch pie plate, grater or zester, food processor (optional, but recommended), rolling pin and pie weights (also optional, but recommended).
Ingredients for Ricotta Pie
Crust (Pasta Frolla)
- 2 cups flour
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- zest of ½ a lemon
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ cup cold unsalted butter, chopped
Ricotta Filling
- 32 ounces whole milk Ricotta cheese
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 egg white
- zest of ½ a lemon
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla extract if you prefer)
Directions
Zest the lemon and divide the fresh lemon zest equally for crust and filling. Put aside the filling half for later. You can also squeeze the lemon juice out, as you will need a little for the filling.
Beat together half the zest, 1 egg plus 1 yolk. Set aside.
Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and whisk, or simply dump into a food processor.
Pour in the egg mixture, mix together or just add if using processor.
Add the cold butter. mash with a fork, or chop together with butter knives or mezzaluna. If using food processor, pulse a few times until well combined.The mixture will seem dry and mealy. That is correct.
Dump the crust mixture unto a marble pastry board or lightly floured surface and knead until you can comfortable make a ball. It will seem very crumbly at first, have patience, it will form into pie dough with a little work. If you absolutely have to add a teaspoon of lemon juice to moisten dough.
Wrap up the dough ball with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface until you have a circle larger than your pie pan by at least a couple inches on each side.
Roll the crust gently into the rolling pin to help transfer it to the pie dish. Tuck to into the pan and trim off excess dough. If you have any tears in the crust simply fill them in and smooth out right in the pie plate. The dough is forgiving.
Prick the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork every inch or so.
If you have pie weights spread them over bottom of crust.
Bake the crust in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. It will be just cooked through, but not starting to brown.
While baking the crust, start making the crust. Begin by whisking together the eggs and extra white in a large bowl, along with the almond extract, lemon zest and juice.
Combine the egg mixture with the sugar and ricotta and mix together with a wooden spoon or spatula until smooth enough to finish mixing with a whisk. I do not recommend using an appliance for this step. It is best done by hand, so as to not break down the ricotta too much.
Pour the ricotta mixture into the crust.
Bake for 45-55 minutes. It is done when roughly halfway to the center is set, but middle is still jiggly.
After baking allow the pie to cool completely to room temperature before cutting or serving. Place in refrigerator once fully cooled.
Variations on the Recipe
There are a few common variations to the recipe. If you are trying to recreate a lost family recipe one of these options may just be what you need to make Nana's ricotta pie.
- Orange zest swapped for the lemon zest is pretty common.
- Some prefer to use vanilla extract in the filling, rather than almond. I stick with almond extract, since I first saw the pie made with it, and I have a very old recipe that has toasted almonds in it.
- Ricotta rice pie is also a popular choice. It would be a good way to stretch the filling to make 2 pies, if you have a crowd.
- Lemon lovers should feel free to add more lemon zest. The ricotta cheese pie can handle a full lemon in both pie crust and ricotta filling.
- Some like to add mini chocolate chips to the creamy ricotta pie filling. I am not keen on this personally, but if it sounds good to you I suggest opting for orange rather than lemon zest and perhaps the vanilla flavoring over almond.
- A little heavy cream is used in some recipes. ¼ cup with 2 tablespoons of flour could be added to the filling above, but keep in mind it will create extra leftover filling.
- Cream cheese can be swapped for a portion of the ricotta cheese for a smoother richer texture.
- Many recipes use powdered sugar rather than granulated sugar as I have here. I prefer the regular white sugar over powdered, if you opt to use powdered sugar, only use half the quantity used in recipe since it packs a lot more sweetness.
- A Nilla wafer cookie crumb crust is an alternative pie crust you may like, if you would rather not try your hand at pasta frolla or are short on time. It does lend the cookie flavor and texture to the pie.
Keto Ricotta Pie
While making a low carb ricotta pie is not quite traditional of the Italian sweet, it is a great choice for keto dieters, diabetics or anyone watching their sugar intake.
The primary recipe change is to swap erythritol or your favorite measures-like-sugar sweetener for the sugar in the recipe. Exchanging the standard flour for finely ground almond flour would not only make the recipe keto complaint, but works great with the flavor profile of the pie!
Tips:
While I've added many tips right into the ricotta pie recipe here are a few more that you may find helpful when making your ricotta pie.
- Using room temperature eggs is not required, but will make smoothly blending them into the pie crust and ricotta filling easier. I have instructed you beat them before adding, so this is less of a factor anyway.
- The addition of baking powder to the pie dough, allows you to not worry as much about overworking it. Don't stress about not having a flakey pie crust, it is not really that sort of crust anyway.
- As I mentioned above, hand mixing the ricotta filling is preferable, to maintain a little of the ricotta's grainy texture.
- Make your pie crust the evening before or early in the morning, to be ready when you want to bake the pie.
- Do not make a decorative crust edge, the pie crust dough is better trimmed off at the pie pan edge. Create a lattice or double crust if you like though.
Storing
Once fully cooled, cover the ricotta pie with plastic wrap or an upside down plate and place in refrigerator promptly. It should not be left out for more than 2 hours at room temperature. Covering, is particularly important with this type of pie as it avoids the pie drying out and cracking.
The ricotta pie will last up to 5 days in the fridge, if properly covered and was refrigerated within 2 hours of cooling from baking.
Yes, ricotta pie can be frozen. It will last in the freezer for up th 3 months in the freezer, if well wrapped or sealed in an airtight container.
Serve this creamy cheese pie along with fresh fruit for the perfect finish to the holiday meal.
Ricotta Pie Recipe
Equipment
- 9 inch pie plate
- grater or zester
- rolling pin
- food processor optional, but recommended
- pie weights optional, but recommended
- marble pastry board optional
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 2 cups flour
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- lemon zest from ½ a lemon
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ cup unsalted butter cold, chopped
Ricotta Filling
- 32 ounces whole milk Ricotta cheese
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 egg white
- lemon zest from ½ a lemon
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon almond extract or vanilla extract if you prefer
Instructions
- Zest the lemon and divide the zested lemon equally for crust and filling. Put aside the filling half for later.
- Beat together half the zest, 1 egg plus 1 yolk. set aside.
- Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and whisk, or simply dump into a food processor.
- Add egg mixture, mix together or just add if using processor.
- Add the cold butter. mash with a fork, or chop together with butter knives or mezzaluna. If using food processor, pulse a few times until well combined.The mixture will seem dry and mealy. That is correct.
- Dump the crust mixture unto a marble pastry board or lightly floured surface and knead until you can comfortable make a ball. It will seem very crumbly at first, have patience. If you absolutely have to add a teaspoon of lemon juice to moisten dough.
- Wrap up the dough ball with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for at least an hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface until you have a circle larger than your pie pan by at least a couple inches on each side.
- Roll the crust gently into the rolling pin to help transfer it to the pie pan. Tuck to into the pan and trim off excess dough. If you have any tears in the crust simply fill them in and smooth out. The dough is forgiving.
- Prick the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork every inch or so. If you have pie weights spread them over bottom of crust.
- Bake the crust for 8-10 minutes. It will be cooked through, but not starting to brown.
- While baking the crust, start making the crust. Begin by whisking together the eggs and extra white in a large bowl.
- Add the rest of the filling ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon or spatula until smooth enough to finish mixing with a whisk.I do not recommend using an appliance for this step. It is best done by hand, so as to not break down the ricotta too much.
- Pour the filling batter into the crust.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes. It is done when roughly halfway to the center is set, but middle is still jiggly.
- After baking allow the pie to cool fully before serving. Place in refrigerator once fully cooled.
Catherine Ursini says
I lost my Nonna's recipe. When I found this one, I could hardly believe it! It was almost exactly like her Sicilian ricotta pie (that I could remember)! Thank you so much for publishing this. I will NOT lose this one!
Robin Gagnon says
I am so happy you were able recapture this family tradition.
Amy says
This was such a tasty pie! It reminded me of a giant cannoli! I love Italian dessert recipes
Tessa says
Thanks for this easy to follow authentic Italian recipe. It really does taste like my late auntie"s.
Gina says
Just had a slice of ricotta pie. Delicious!
Shadi says
So delicious, this one is a keeper. I know I’m going to make it over and over again!
kushigalu says
This pie looks rich, creamy, and delicious. I have pinned your recipe to try soon. Thanks for sharing this authentic Italian recipe
Amanda Wren-Grimwood says
I love ricotta so couldn't wait to try this pie. It is so creamy and delicious and I will definitely make it again.
Brenda Gamble says
Thanks for the recipe. My family loved it! The photos and video helped a lot, especially with when to take it out of the oven. I didn't over bake like I have with cheese cakes in the past.
Vittoria C says
This is the only way to make the crust for this Italian pie. The ricotta cheese filling is excellent also.
Cynthia says
We loved this lemony ricotta cheese pie. It was a great alternative to a heavier cheesecake for a hot afternoon.