Creamy Ricotta Pie Recipe

During Lent, the traditional period of fasting before Easter, several Copywriters’ Kitchen family members gave up sugar.

So naturally when the spring holiday liberated us from sugar privation, we wanted to indulge with as many rich sweets as possible.

This Creamy Ricotta Pie, with its ground almonds, minced candied fruit, whole-milk ricotta and heavy cream made the perfect, voluptuary dessert.



Lucky for me, I live close to Arthur Avenue. This Italian American neighborhood in the Bronx, New York, is packed cheek by jowl with Italian bakeries, delis, pasta shops and grocery stores. In addition to Italian specialties, the markets are a great source of fresh, locally produced ingredients.

On Arthur Avenue I bought the almonds, bulk candied fruit—nothing like the gooey corn-syrupy version sold in supermarkets—and incredible fresh ricotta cheese I needed for this recipe.

Everything about this whole milk cheese—including its packaging—delights the senses. Produced by Liuzzi Angeloni, a small cheese maker in Hamden, Connecticut, the soft, rich ricotta comes in a little white tin pail. The bottom of the pail is perforated with tiny holes to allow liquid to drain off and keep the cheese silky and unwatery.

I don’t know where Liuzzi Angeloni sources its milk—let’s hope from happy grassfed cows. But calling their milk “whole” only begins to describe its richness. This cheese manages to be fluffy, light and creamy at the same time.



You’ll see I use a small amount of heavy cream in my recipe, below. If you can’t get your hands on fresh whole milk ricotta, I suggest you enrich supermarket whole milk ricotta with a few extra tablespoons of cream.

If you like tiny tarts, rather than a large pie, try spooning this ricotta filling into circles of pie dough pressed into small muffin tins.





I confess with this recipe I prefer one big pie: it provides a larger filling-to-crust ratio and the ricotta filling is just that good.

We thought about topping with a dollop of whipped cream, but it seemed like gilding the lily. Instead we enjoyed it unadorned with strong cups of Italian roast coffee.

Creamy Ricotta Pie Recipe

3 tablespoons candied glace mixed fruit or citron
4 tablespoons toasted blanched almonds or pine nuts
1 tablespoon flour
1 ½ pounds of whole milk ricotta
3 eggs
¼ cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Unbaked pie shell—click here for pie shell recipe and instructions—or use frozen shell.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. If making pie shell—please try to, it’s so much better!—mix and roll out pie dough. See this easy pie dough recipe and instructions along with photos. If using store-bought shell, use a fork to prick dough at least 50 times, see photo above. (This keeps the shell from bucking as you bake it.)
3. In a small bowl, mix fruit and flour.
4. In the bowl of a small food chopper or a blender, pulverize the toasted nuts.
5. Add the fruit and flour to the nuts and whir until finely chopped.
6. In a medium bowl combine fruit and nut mixture with ricotta, eggs, cream, sugar and vanilla, beating with a whisk to blend well.
7. Place unbaked pie shell on cookie sheet—this prevents spills when baking.
8. Pour the filling into the pie shell.
9. Slide the cookie sheet and pie into the oven and bake for 45 minute to one hour. Midway into baking, turn pie so it browns evenly—you’ll notice I did NOT do this and my pie is too browned in one corner—see photo above. At this point you may also want to check the crust: If it is browning too fast, put an aluminum pie crust protector or foil over the crust and continue to bake.
10. Check the pie after 45 minutes and every 10 minutes thereafter. It’s done when a knife run into the edge of the pie comes out clean. The pie center may still look a little wet—that’s fine: The pie continues to bake and solidify after you remove it from the oven. Cool completely and serve at room temperature or chilled.

Store leftover pie covered in the refrigerator.

Serves 8-10.