A few times a year I will have leftover ricotta after making lasagna or Spaghetti Pie Supreme. And then I get busy & the ricotta gets pushed to the far back corner of the fridge. I will normally find it after it has turned into a fuzzy science project. Well the planets aligned and I actually did some research for ideas using the remnants of ricotta cheese. I was so happy to find a few recipes for a ricotta cheese pie. Ricotta Lemon Pie has a subtle lemon flavor from lemon zest and bakes up like a light and fluffy cheesecake. It’s perfect for a slightly sweet springtime dessert that’s not as heavy as cheesecake. (I do love cheesecake though!)
The light texture comes from whipped egg whites folded into the batter. As long as you make sure you are using a clean bowl & beaters you will have no problem whipping up the egg whites. This was a hard lesson learned when I was a tween and the egg whites never whipped up. One spec of fat or oil and it’s “curtains.”
I baked the pie in a spring-form pan as I liked the idea of straight perpendicular sides. However, a 9-inch pie plate will work quite nicely.
Once the pie cools it will deflate some but it does not affect the taste or texture. Next time I am going to use a graham crust or omit the crust all together. I dare say this pie is flavorful enough to stand alone!
If you forgot to save the last slice for yourself swipe the hubby’s slice and hope he has forgotten it’s there. At our house if your name isn’t on it, it may not be there later.
My inspiration for this pie came from: Giada De Laurentiis of Food Network fame. She makes Italian food simple and perfectly delicious. Our recipes are very different, but I gleaned some great info from her!
Ricotta Lemon Pie
Ingredients
Ricotta Pie Filling
- 1 pound ricotta cheese (2 cups)
- 4 ounces cream cheese (half of a brick)
- 1/2 cup pure cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- pinch of salt
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 egg whites
Grandma's Pie Crust (for single crust)
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon pure cane sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup butter, cut into small pieces if cold (equals 1 cube)
- 1/4 cup cold water
Instructions
Pie Crust
- In a large bowl using a pastry blender or fork, stir together all dry ingredients. Cut in the butter until crumbly, you will see bits of pea-sized or smaller pieces of butter.
- Pour in the cold water all at once, give it a three to four good stirs just to pull it together. Do not knead or over mix.
- On a heavily floured surface roll out the dough and place into a 9-inch spring form pan or 9-inch pie plate. If using a spring form, simply fold the edges inward. For the pie plate, crimp edges as desired. Set aside for filling.
Ricotta Lemon Pie Filling
- Preheat oven to 375.
- In an electric mixer, beat the egg whites at high speed until they form stiff peaks (this will take around 7 to 8 minutes). Set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, using electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar for about 2 minutes.
- Add the ricotta, flour, salt, vanilla, lemon zest, whipping cream and egg yolks. Beat until very smooth and no lumps, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Use a spatula and gently fold the whipped egg whites into the ricotta cheese mixture.
- Pour into prepared pie crust and bake 55 to 60 minutes. It will get dark on top.
- Let cool for 1 to 2 hours. Sift powder sugary on top right before serving (place powder sugar in a small sieve and tap the sides of the sieve while over the top of the pie).
