Pastiera Napoletana

For the grain

Boil the grain for 15 minutes and drain. In a pot, mix them with hot milk, butter, vanilla, and orange zest until tender and the milk gets absorbed. Then, turn off the heat and set the mixture aside in a large bowl to cool down.

For the crust

Sift the flour onto a working surface, make a hole in the middle of the flour to form a well.  Add soft butter, sugar, and egg yolks and work the ingredients together to make a smooth dough mixture.

Add the lemon zest, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in the refridgerator for one hour.

For the filling

Sift the ricotta and mix it in a large bowl with sugar, cinnamon, orange water and the egg yolks, one at a time.

Fold in the beaten egg whites, then add the grain and candied fruit, mixing well.

Final preparation

Heat the oven to 375 F or 180 c°. Grease a 12 inch circular baking pan with butter, roll out the dough, using 2/3 of it to line the pan, then place  all of the filling inside the dough covered pan. Roll out the remaining dough and cut into strips for the lattice design on the top of the pastry.

Bake the pastry for about 1.5 hours until the filling is set and the crust is golden brown.

Let it cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.