CookEat Recipe
Neapolitan Semolina and Preserve Pie
A closed sweet shortcrust pie filled with three layers of soft semolina and small pockets of mixed fruit preserves, served cold with icing sugar.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 600 ml whole milk, interpreting the source’s 3 glasses as about 200 ml each; 100 g semolina, adjusted to keep the cooked mixture soft rather than stiff; 80 g caster sugar for the filling; A pinch of salt; Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon; 4 1/2 egg yolks: 3 for the filling, 1/2 for the pastry and 1 for glazing; 2 egg whites for the filling, unwhipped; 270 g plain flour: 250 g for the pastry and about 20 g for rolling; 130 g icing sugar: 110 g for the pastry and 20 g for finishing; 100 g butter: 90 g for the pastry and 10 g for the tin; 35 g plain rendered lard for the pastry; 1 whole egg for the pastry; 120 g mixed prepared fruit preserves, such as raspberry, quince and apricot; A few teaspoons water for sealing the pastry edges.
Step 2
Make the half-quantity shortcrust: mix 250 g flour with 110 g icing sugar, then work in 90 g softened butter and the 35 g lard with a blunt scraper. Add the whole pastry egg and half a beaten yolk, about 9 g, and bring together with as little handling as possible. If dry crumbs will not bind, add a few drops of white wine or Marsala; this is an optional adjustment, not a liquid filling ingredient. Cover and chill for about 30 minutes.
Step 3
Bring the milk to a gentle simmer and sprinkle in the semolina while stirring. Cook for about 6–10 minutes until creamy and soft rather than stiff. Remove from the heat and stir in the caster sugar, salt and lemon zest. Cool until warm, then mix in the three filling yolks and two unwhipped whites thoroughly. Let cool promptly before assembling.
Step 4
Heat the oven to 175°C. Grease a shallow 24 cm tin with the reserved 10 g butter. Roll just over half the pastry about 2–3 mm thick on a lightly floured surface and line the base and low sides. Spread one-third of the semolina filling in the pastry and dot with one-third of the mixed preserves, spacing small pieces of firm preserve and small teaspoonfuls of softer jam apart.
Step 5
Add a second third of semolina and preserve, then a third, keeping the three layers distinct rather than stirring the jam through. Roll the remaining pastry into a lid, dampen the base pastry’s rim with a little water and seal the lid to it. Decorate with small shapes cut from the pastry trimmings and brush with the remaining glazing yolk.
Step 6
Bake for about 40–50 minutes until the pastry is golden and cooked and the centre of the filling reaches at least 74°C. Cover loosely with baking paper if the top colours too quickly. Cool promptly, refrigerate at 4°C or colder within 2 hours and unmould once cold. Dust with the remaining 20 g icing sugar before serving. Keep refrigerated and eat within 2–3 days.
Step 7
For the dried-fruit alternative, omit all the preserves and use about 80 g sultanas and 30 g finely chopped candied citrus peel instead. Divide these between the same three semolina layers, enclose with the same pastry lid, glaze, bake, cool and finish exactly as above. For the alternative tin preparation, 10 g plain rendered lard may replace the 10 g greasing butter.
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