Pastiera is a surprisingly easy dessert to make but, I’m not going to lie, it takes a bit of time and planning and you cannot be in a rush to make this. In fact, tradition says it takes three days to make. It sounds like a long time but it’s actually small things done over three days that make it very easy to work around (attending to the pie just after work, for example).
These days it’s the thing to have on your table for Easter Sunday lunch, which means that housewives all over Naples begin making this on the Thursday or at least the Friday before Easter – and this is for those using pre-cooked wheat berries (grano cotto) that you can buy in a jar in Italian supermarkets. For those cooking their own raw grains, you need to begin cooking those at least three days earlier. The grains are soaked in water, which is changed often over three days, and is then boiled in milk until tender. If you can’t find wheat berries, pearl barely would be a good substitute (and won’t take as long to prepare – just boil them until tender, about 40 minutes!).
The ideal pastiera-making process looks a little like this:
On Maundy Thursday you cook the pre-cooked wheat berries with milk and lemon to make a creamy oatmeal-like mixture, which needs to cool overnight (and this also gives time for the flavours to infuse).
On Good Friday you prepare both the pastry and the ricotta filling and these too rest overnight – they say that freshly beaten eggs will ruin a pastiera as during baking the “soufflé effect” of the freshly beaten eggs will make the filling rise then sink when cooled. A pastiera has to be perfectly flat on top. Resting time also allows the mixture’s many flavours and spices to mingle nicely.
Saturday is baking day (the house will smell amazing at this point) and the pastiera must be cooled entirely in its tin before removing it. Also, pastiera is undoubtedly always better the day after it’s been baked, when the flavours have all come together and the filling is firm but light and fluffy. Sunday lunch is the moment of truth, when a little powdered sugar is dusted over the top and slices are liberally handed out.
You can also do this all at once, naturally. But do keep in mind it tastes better the next day, so begin this at least one day in advance if you can.