Italian Easter Pie

Hello lovely Chef in Training readers. I’m Roxana, a self-taught baker, wanna-be photographer and the writer behind Roxana’s Home Baking.

For those of you not familiar with my blog, its main focus is baking everything from scratch. Baking not only brings me joy but completes me as well. Baking from scratch has a reputation of being too complicated and/or time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be. Home baking may be as simple as a muffin recipe or something more laborious like a yeast bread or a layer cake.

Most of the recipes found on my blog rely on simple techniques everyone can master with a little bit of patience.

I’m honored to be here, on Nikki’s awesome blog. She’s so talented and have admired her for so long! I had a hard time deciding what to make for today but in the end decided to make a simple Italian Easter Pie.

Italian Easter Pie Recipe from Roxana's Home Baking on chef-in-training.com ...This looks and sounds SO good! #recipe #dessert

Technically it’s a cheesecake, not a pie, buy hey, I didn’t invent the name. To make it you start with a pie crust. After the crust is chilled and rolls out the filling it’s easy peasy lemon squeezy, I mean orange squeezy since I added some orange extract and orange zest to the filling. You’ll also one 15 oz container of ricotta cheese and four eggs, and of course, chocolate chips.

This pie reminded me of the chocolate and orange ricotta cookies I’ve shared a few weeks ago. The filling it’s creamy like a cheesecake but lighter. My favorite dessert is cheesecake but sometimes I found it a little heavy, but not this pie. And the orange touch makes it so flavorful, so irresistible.

There’s just one thing I would change to the recipe. Instead of adding the chocolate chips to the cheese filling I would sprinkle them on top of the filling, once it’s poured in the pie crust. This way you make sure each slice with have almost the same amount of chocolate.

Italian Easter Pie Recipe from Roxana's Home Baking on chef-in-training.com ...This looks and sounds SO good! #recipe #dessert

Italian Easter Pie
 
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Ingredients
Pie crust
  • 1⅔ cup (200 grams) cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (113 grams) cold diced butter
  • 2 eggs
  • pinch of salt
  • pinch of baking powder
Ricotta Filling
  • 15 oz (425 grams) ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp grated orange zest
  • 1 tsp orange extract
  • 4 eggs
  • ⅔ cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. To make the pie crust add all the ingredients to a food processor. Pulse for about 2 minutes until it forms a ball.
  2. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
  3. When the dough is chilled, place it on a lightly floured surface and roll it out in a 10 inch diameter circle. Cover the bottom and the sides of a 9 " pie pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for few more minutes.
  4. In the meantime heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  5. In a mixing bowl combine the ricotta cheese, sugar, flour, orange zest and orange extract.
  6. In another mixing bowl whisk the eggs, until creamy yellow in color, for about 5 minutes. Fold the eggs into the cheese mixture.
  7. Pour the filling into the pie crust, sprinkle the chocolate chips on top, slightly press them in.
  8. Bake for 50 minutes without opening the oven.
  9. When the time is up, turn off the oven, crack open the door and let the pie completely cool. Just before serving dust with powder sugar.
  10. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
recipe adapted from Taste of Home Baking Cookbook

Italian Easter Pie Recipe from Roxana's Home Baking on chef-in-training.com ...This looks and sounds SO good! #recipe #dessert

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Thank you Nikki for allowing me to blog sit for you today!

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #chefintraining and/or #chefintrainingblog. I would love to see how these recipes take shape in your kitchens.

Filed under: dessert

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Comments

  2. Maria

    when do you add the chocolate chips ?

    1. Chef in Training

      Hi Maria :) Just updated it: "Pour the filling into the pie crust, sprinkle the chocolate chips on top, slightly press them in. Bake for 50 minutes without opening the oven."

  3. Kate@Diethood

    I need to make this! Like, right now!! I love cheesecakes, and this one sounds so freakin' amazing!!

  4. Kathy

    This looks wonderful! I start craving cheesecake this time of year and this looks like a perfect one to try!

  5. Kiran @ KiranTarun.com

    I could see some zest too! Love this creamy pie!!

    Hi Nikki, so nice to meet another fellow blogger :)

  10. Suzanne

    What a delicious looking pie for Easter. I love that it has a orange and chocolate chips in it.

  12. Heidi

    How many people would this serve?

    1. Roxana

      Hi Heidi, ,
      It’s a 9″ pie and it’s rich enough to cut thin slices, so I would say around 10 people.

      Roxana

  13. Diane

    Planning to make this for Easter. Is it alright to make it a couple days prior to Easter Sunday?

    1. Roxana

      Hi Diane,
      Sorry my reply comes the day before Easter.
      The pie lasts a couple of days, just make sure you keep it covered with some plastic wrap so it doesn't dry.

      Roxana

  14. lindsay

    can we substitute the chocolate chips for berries?

    1. Roxana

      Hi Lindsay,
      I haven't tried adding berry to the filling, but I've made one with dried fruit.
      You might be able to use blueberries, don't know about other berries.

      Roxana

  15. Susan LaPooh

    Do you think you could make it without the crust?

    1. Roxana

      Hi Susan,
      I think you can bake the filling without the crust. Just make sure you're using a leaf proof pan.

      Roxana

  16. Kristin

    I don't have a food processor...can I mix the crust in a mixer?

    1. Roxana

      Hi Kristin, ,
      If you don’t have a food processor you can do the crust in a bowl. Start by mixing the flour with the sugar, salt and baking powder. With your fingers rub the butter with the flour mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Lightly beat the eggs and slowly knead them into the crust to form a ball.

      Happy Easter,
      Roxana

    2. Alexandra

      Hi Roxana,
      I am going to make this for Easter tomorrow but I am too lazy to make my own pie crust. I'm going to try with store bought crust and see how it goes! Hopefully it will be just as delicious!

    3. andie

      How did store bought crust work for you?

  17. adora semeraro

    I just recently came upon your site and I am amazed1 I dont know what to make first. I am going to try one thing at a time starting with the Italian riccota pie for Easter! Thank You so very much for all these recipes I know it was a lot of hard work putting this site together. you are #1 in my book I give you a 10 rating! Thank You again I am going to follow this site weekly for new recipes. thanks again!

    1. Chef in Training

      Thank you so much for your kind words. I really appreciate them and am completely flattered! Roxana from Roxana's Home Cooking did a great job on this post didn't she! You will have to come back and let us know how you enjoyed it :)

  18. Mary

    I made your ricotta pie and it was a big hit. The only change I made was to add some candied orange peel that I happened to have. Thank you for the great recipe.

  19. Molly

    I decided to live a little dangerously and make this for the first time for Easter dinner- YUM! It was a big hit. I'll definitely be adding it to my "keeper" pile. And so easy to put together. THANK YOU!!!!!

  20. Tina

    I made this for Easter and everyone loved it! I used part skim ricotta and it was much lighter than regular cheesecake and it's not too sweet. I think I would prefer a graham cracker crust over the pie crust, so I'll try that next time. I think it would also be great with a coconut crust and almond extract instead of orange. Thanks for the recipe!

  21. susan

    How can you post recipes without a print button

  22. Greg

    I made this pie for Easter, and it was really very good. I will make it again... every Easter. I agree about the chocolate chips. Next time I will sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. I mixed mine in the batter, and they all ended up falling in the center. My crust came out tough. I will use a different pie crust recipe next time. I'm guessing I did something wrong when I mixed this one by hand. This was easy to make, and we all gobbled it up.

  23. Maria Fazzolari

    Yummy crostata l love baking making this right now Making this for xmas

  24. Maria

    Can I use already made pie crust

    1. Chef in Training

      definitely!

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