Ricotta Cheese Pie

Ricotta Cheese Pie 

This recipe was found under the D tab for dessert.

Happy Holidays! If you're looking for another holiday treat definitely try this recipe. It was hand written by my mother, but I believe the recipe may have originally been my paternal grandmother's. It's definitely a staple in the Italian dessert category and if you haven't had one yet you should definitely start here. This recipe is fairly easy to make and tastes great! 

Ricotta Cheese Pie

2 Lbs. ricotta cheese

6 Eggs

1 Cup chocolate bits

12 Cut up maraschino cherries

½ to 1 Tsp flavor (anise or lemon)

¾ Cup sugar

Mix everything together and turn into uncooked pie

shell in a 12x9 oblong pan. Top with lattice and bake

at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Let cool before cutting.

Rises high!

You may not have all the ingredients in your pantry for this recipe. Be sure you also have at least two uncooked pre-made pie dough rolls. I am not a fan of cherries so I omitted those from my version, but feel free to use them if you'd like. 

To start you will need to set your oven to 350 degrees and be sure you have your 12x9 pan ready. You are welcome to put the ingredients in a regular pie pan, but there may be too much filling for just one. Next, add the eggs to a large bowl along with the ricotta cheese. 

It's best to mix these together with a wire whisk. You won't need an electric mixer for this recipe. Mix the eggs and cheese together until the eggs are completely combined. 

Once the egg and cheese mixture is ready go ahead and add the chocolate bits, flavoring, and sugar. If you're using the cherries you can add them in here as well. 

I used 1 teaspoon of anise extract, but you can use less or lemon flavor if you'd like. If you haven't had anise flavoring before and are weary of purchasing a whole bottle you can compare it to black licorice. I'm not a fan of black licorice myself, but I enjoy the anise flavor. 

When all of the ingredients are mixed together well you can prepare your baking pan. I used the pre-made Pillsbury pie dough that comes two rolls in a box. I had to stretch it a bit to fit in the bottom of the 12x9 pan, but it worked. 

When you're satisfied with the pie dough coverage go ahead and add the pie mixture to it. 

With the second pie dough roll you will need to make a lattice on the top of the filling. Start by rolling out the dough on a flat surface. 

Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to slice the dough lengthwise into long 1/2 inch strips. 

When your strips are ready you can begin by adding the strips to horizontally on top of the pie filling. 

Then take the remaining strips lengthwise and weave them under and over the strips you already placed down. 

Continue with each piece of pie dough until you have no more dough left. Don't worry if it's not perfect, mine definitely wasn't!

When the lattice is on the pie go ahead and place it in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Be sure to keep an eye on it because it should cook for exactly an hour. 

When the pie is done let it cool completely before cutting it or it will fall apart. 

If you added the cherries it will be more colorful, but I like it without them. 

I gave this recipe a 5 out of 5 on the yummy scale! 

If you're not a fan of cheese you should at least give this recipe a try. The texture comes out like pie so you wouldn't even know it's all dairy! The rich chocolate flavor really adds to the anise flavor as well. It's fairly easy to make and I definitely recommend giving it a try!