Pastizzi (Maltese Flaky Ricotta Pastries)

About This Recipe

Pastizzi are Malta's answer to the perfect handheld pastry, sold from bakeries and street kiosks across the islands at all hours, often eaten as a breakfast or late-night snack alongside a strong coffee or a cold Kinnie soda. The pastry itself is the real technical achievement — a rough puff-style dough is repeatedly rolled, coated in lard or margarine, and folded into dozens of layers before being rolled paper-thin, then hand-shaped into a distinctive rounded diamond form and filled either with a creamy ricotta mixture (pastizzi tal-irkotta) or with mushy, curried dried peas (pastizzi tal-piżelli). When baked, the many folded layers puff and separate into shatteringly crisp, flaky shards, while the interior stays soft and rich — the contrast between the crackling exterior and the creamy or savory filling is exactly what makes pastizzi so addictive. Traditionally eaten out of hand, straight from a paper bag, still warm from the oven, pastizzi are inexpensive, filling, and deeply embedded in daily Maltese life, considered by many Maltese abroad one of the foods they miss most.

Ingredients

Serves 12

• 500 gall-purpose flour
• 1 tspfine salt
• 220 mlcold water
• 1 tspwhite vinegar
• 250 glard or margarine, softened, for laminating
• 400 gfresh ricotta, well drained
• 2 largeeggs
• 50 ggrated Parmesan or aged Gozo cheese
• 0.5 tspfine salt, for the filling
• 0.25 tspblack pepper, for the filling
• 1egg, beaten, for brushing

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Mix flour and salt. Combine cold water and vinegar, then gradually add to the flour, mixing to a smooth, firm dough. Knead 8 minutes, cover, and rest 30 minutes.

2. 2

   First rollout

   Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a large, thin rectangle. Dot a third of the surface with softened lard, fold the unfilled portion over, then fold again like a letter.

3. 3

   Laminate repeatedly

   Rotate the dough 90 degrees, roll out again into a thin rectangle, dot with more lard, and fold again. Repeat this process 3-4 times total, chilling the dough for 15 minutes between folds if it becomes too soft to handle.

4. 4

   Final rest

   Wrap the laminated dough and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or overnight, to firm up fully before shaping.

5. 5

   Make the filling

   Combine ricotta, eggs, grated cheese, salt, and pepper in a bowl, mixing until smooth and well combined.

6. 6

   Roll paper-thin

   Roll the chilled dough as thin as possible on a well-floured surface — it should be nearly translucent. Cut into rectangles roughly 12cm by 8cm.

7. 7

   Shape and fill

   Place a spoonful of ricotta filling in the center of each rectangle. Pull the two long edges up and pinch together over the filling, then pinch the two pointed ends to form the traditional oval, diamond-like shape, leaving the top slightly open.

8. 8

   Bake

   Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet, brush lightly with beaten egg, and bake at 220°C for 20-25 minutes until deeply golden and the layers have visibly puffed and separated.

Variations

• •

  Pastizzi tal-piżelli fills the same pastry with mashed dried peas seasoned with curry powder and onion instead of ricotta.

• •

  A modern variation adds cooked, seasoned minced meat to the ricotta filling for a heartier version.

• •

  Mini cocktail-sized pastizzi are popular for parties, using the same dough cut into smaller rectangles.

Storage

Best eaten warm the day they're baked. Refrigerate up to 2 days and reheat in a 190°C oven for 8-10 minutes to re-crisp; unbaked, filled pastizzi freeze well for up to a month and can be baked directly from frozen with a few extra minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions