Grandma’s Ricotta Pie
The women in my family love to bake, and I am no exception. I’d like to share with you all a recipe that was handed down to my Grandma Lucy from her mother, Josephine Liberatore. Grandma Lucy shared it with my mother, Lee, and then later with me. Grandma made the first ricotta pie I ever tasted, and it was love at first slice! I now find myself making it at least once a year, if not more, switching up the crust and the accompaniment to suit the season. The creamy, sweet ricotta custard filling is a glorious canvas for so many other flavors. I’ve made this with a pistachio crust, an almond crust, and a chocolate crust. I’ve switched it up with a berry coulis, a lemon curd, or a pineapple chutney, to name just a few. I hope you give it a try and enjoy it as much as I do.
~Megan Demarest, Editor of The Guide​
This is the classic recipe with a graham cracker crust, which is so easy to make from scratch. Add a drizzle of warm caramel and a dollop of whipped cream and you’ve got yourself a delightful winter treat. This will yield two pies' worth of custard (you can bake one half of the filling without crust and just enjoy the custard solo, too!)
Graham Cracker Pie Crust (Recipe is for double quantities to fill two crusts):
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (about 12 full crackers)
¼ cup sugar
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grind graham crackers in a food processor until finely ground or place them in a plastic baggie and crush them with a rolling pin. Stir the crumbs and sugar together, then add in the melted butter and stir until fully incorporated.
Press by hand into the bottom and sides of a 9- or 10-inch pie plate so that the crust is even (about an inch thick). Bake for 10 minutes, then set aside to cool and prepare custard filling.
Ricotta Custard (Makes enough custard for two pies):
1 pound ricotta cheese
1 cup sugar
½ pint heavy cream
½ tsp vanilla
4 well-beaten eggs
4 Tbsp flour
¼ tsp salt
Mix ricotta, sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, and beaten eggs together until well-blended. Add flour and salt, continuing to mix well. Pour into prepared pie crust. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour, making sure a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Let it cool down for 8-10 minutes before serving warm on a cold winter’s day with your drizzle of caramel and accent of whipped cream.
It’s also great with a chocolate crust in the springtime; chilled with fresh, seasonal fruits in the summer; or with a nut crust and warm apple-pear compote in the fall.