History

Pastiera's origins are traced to pagan spring fertility rites on the Gulf of Naples, though the recipe as we know it emerged in the convents of the Annunziata and San Gregorio Armeno in 17th-century Naples. The tart is so anchored to Easter that Neapolitans say it is the dish that makes the queen cry (from happiness, not sorrow).

Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs

Make it at home

Yield Makes one 24cm tart (serves 8)Hands-on 1 hrTotal 3 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • For the pastry: 300g tipo 00 flour, 150g cold butter, 130g icing sugar, 2 egg yolks, zest of 1 lemon
  • For the filling: 400g grano cotto (pre-cooked wheat grain, tinned), 300ml whole milk, 30g butter, 500g fresh ricotta, 3 eggs plus 2 yolks, 200g caster sugar, 200g candied citron and orange peel, diced, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 tbsp orange-flower water

Method

  1. Make the pastry: rub butter into flour to breadcrumbs, mix in sugar, egg yolks and lemon zest until a dough forms. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
  2. Warm the grano cotto in milk with butter for 15 minutes until creamy. Cool.
  3. Beat ricotta with eggs, yolks and sugar until smooth. Stir in the cooled grano cotto, candied peel, cinnamon and orange-flower water.
  4. Line a buttered 24cm tart tin with two-thirds of the pastry. Pour in the filling. Cut the remaining pastry into strips and lay a lattice on top.
  5. Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for 55 to 65 minutes until the lattice is golden and the filling is set with a slight wobble at the centre.
  6. Cool completely before slicing; pastiera is best eaten the next day and keeps for 4 days.

Tip from the editors. Grano cotto (pre-cooked wheat) is sold in Italian delis tinned; pearl barley is a viable substitute but changes the texture slightly.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat pastiera napoletana

Pastiera Napoletana in Naples

Scaturchio ★ 4.3

centro-storicoUntil 21:00

Scaturchio in Naples' Piazza San Domenico Maggiore opens its evening aperitivo from 18:00 to 21:00, with the ministeriale (chocolate-rum disc) and babà au rhum available at the counter until closing.

Try: Ministeriale, babà au rhum, espresso

Tip: Open daily 07:00 to 21:00. The aperitivo set runs 8 euros with a spritz and pasticcini from 18:00.

Piazza San Domenico Maggiore 19, 80134 Napoli

Gran Caffe Gambrinus ★ 4.5

Belle Epoque pastry breakfast€3-12toledoDaily 07:00-22:00Walk-in only

Gran Caffe Gambrinus on Piazza Trieste e Trento in Naples (1860) is the city's defining morning ritual, with the counter espresso and hot sfogliatella the Neapolitan brunch before brunch was a concept.

Order: Sfogliatella riccia hot from the counter, cioccolata calda in winter.

Tip: Standing at the counter is one-third the price of the seated terrace. Arrive by 09:30 on weekends before the tour groups.

Via Chiaia 1/2, 80132 Napoli

Pasticceria Moccia ★ 4.5

chiaiaTue-Sun 07:00-21:00, closed MondayWalk-in onlySfogliatella, babà au rhum

Moccia in Naples' Chiaia (Vomero branch too) has run the pastry-and-coffee counter since 1936, with the sfogliatella riccia and the babà au rhum the local order across two generations.

Tip: Closed Monday. Open Tue-Sun 07:00 to 21:00. Sfogliatella riccia sells out by 11:00 on Saturdays.

Worth the queue: Sfogliatella riccia

Via San Pasquale a Chiaia 21, 80121 Napoli

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