Maltese baked ricotta pie

Everyone has that family favourite - you know that recipe that tugs at heartstrings and tastebuds? This is one of those recipes and it begins with a buttery, flaky pastry. #RecipeForLife

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  40 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

This Maltese pie is one Shane Delia holds close to his chest and one that is guaranteed to encourage everyone to grab their plates and their seats, once it's pulled out of the oven. First in best dressed!

Ingredients

Pastry

• 500 g plain flour
• 1 ½ tbsp salt flakes
• 335 ml water
• 125 g butter, softened at room temperature

Filling

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 brown onion, finely sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 450 g zucchini, grated
• 300 g pumpkin, grated
• 1 cup frozen peas
• handful parsley , leaves picked
• handful mint, leaves picked
• 2 eggs
• 350 g fresh ricotta
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to season

Resting time 2.5 hours

Instructions

To make the dough, combine flour, salt and water on a floured bench and knead until smooth. Cover and rest in a cool place for 2 hours.

Roll out dough on a floured surface until it's paper thin, then smear with a thick layer of the soft butter. Roll up the dough until you have a log, then coil it and leave it to rest for 30 minutes.

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Lightly grease a 24 cm pie tin with butter. Roll out the dough to 3 mm thick and use it to line the tin. Use the remaining dough to make the lid for the pie and set aside.

Preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan-forced).

To make the filling, heat oil in a large heavy-based pan, add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes on medium heat, then add the zucchini, pumpkin and peas and cook for 5 minutes, until it has softened. Remove from heat, add herbs and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix eggs with ricotta. Add zucchini mixture and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread the filling in the pie dish, then cover with the pastry lid (see Note). Crimp the edges together to seal and snip the top of the pie to release steam during cooking.

Place the pie in the oven, reduce the temperature to 200°C and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for a few minutes in the tin before serving.

Note

• Any leftover pastry can be used to make shapes for the top of the pie.

You can find the recipes and more features from Shane Delia's Recipe For Life here. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

This Maltese pie is one Shane Delia holds close to his chest and one that is guaranteed to encourage everyone to grab their plates and their seats, once it's pulled out of the oven. First in best dressed!