EASTER PIE

I have seen recipes for all sorts of Italian Easter pies on food blogs and recipe websites in recent weeks. There are sweet pies and savory pies that are made primarily around the Easter holiday season. But I haven't seen one like my family's ricotta pie recipe. That is why I decided to post this one. Last week, I had a discussion with my mother about Easter pies. She told me that this particular recipe was developed by my grandmother Lucia. Grandma grew up in an orphanage in Sicily. Because she didn't grow up in an family atmosphere, she didn't have any family recipes that had been handed down for generations. Grandma had to come up with her own recipes from scratch. This was one that she created because her kids (my mom, her brother and sister) didn't like the ricotta pies made with citron or pineapple. My mom helped me decipher the very vague handwritten recipe I found hidden in her old American Culinary Institute cookbook. The recipe simply said "ricotta - as much as you want; eggs; sugar; cinnamon." I had to figure out how much of each ingredient, how long to bake it, and what temperature to bake it at. I wasn't in the mood to make my own pie crust so I decided to cheat and use a store bought crust. I used graham cracker crusts because I thought they would work with the cheesecake-like consistency of this delicacy. I hope you enjoy this pie as much as my family does!

Ricotta Pie

32 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
2 graham cracker pie crusts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Put the first 4 ingredients into a large bowl and whisk them together. Pour the filling evenly into the two pie crusts.

3. Bake the pies for 1 hour. I combined a tsp of powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and sifted it over the pies while they were warm.

Serve chilled.

The Creative Cook