Gluten-free qassatat (ricotta pie)

 Qassatat are small pies, about the size of your hand. They are sold in street-side shops, freshly baked alongside ricotta or piżelli (peas) pastizzi. Always baked fresh onsite, always served hot. A perfect breakfast with a coffee, or as a snack during the day.

When I was a kid, my dad would make ricotta pie (Torta ta’ l-Irkotta). This is a family-sized version. I always found the ratio of ricotta to pastry in the large pie out of balance. Too much of the creamy filling and not enough crunch from the pastry. It wasn’t until my first visit to Malta in 1990 that I discovered qassatat. These are the right balance of creaminess to crunch.

Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to attend Shane Delia’s Malta cooking demonstration and feast. He made a version of qassatat with fig, ricotta and almond. Everyone around me said they were fantastic. Sadly, I couldn’t try them as they were not gluten free, but they smelt amazing! I recommend checking out his TV series on Malta if you can. Sicilians make a sweet version with orange zest. My dad always added frozen peas. For those of Maltese heritage, you know the saying, “If it doesn’t have peas, it’s not Maltese!” :)

Gluten-free pastry can be temperamental and prone to cracking. So, although these are traditionally made free-form, I prefer to use shallow individual pie dishes to help keep their shape.

These are best eaten straight from the oven. They can be refrigerated for a few days if need be and reheated in the oven. The recipe is easily scaled up to feed as many as you need. You will probably find that you still only need 1 egg with 400 g ricotta — just enough to help it hold together, depending on the freshness of the cheese.

Serves 2

• 250 g ricotta
• 1 egg
• 1 tbl fresh parsley, finely chopped
•  ¼ cup peas
• Salt and pepper
• 2 puff pastry sheets (GF)
• 1 egg, beaten, for glaze
  

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C.

In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, egg and parsley. Season with salt and pepper, then stir through the peas.

Roll out the pastry sheets to about 2 mm thick. Using your pie dishes as a guide, cut the pastry to shape, allowing at least 5 cm extra around the edge. This ensures the crust goes up the sides and can be crimped over the top without fully covering the filling.

Carefully place the pastry into the pie dishes.

Add the filling.

Fold the pastry over, ensuring the centre of the filling remains exposed.

Brush the pastry with beaten egg.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden.