Pasticciotti from Lecce are one of the cornerstones of Apulian pastry and, in particular, of the province of Lecce, in the Salento peninsula. A bundle of crumbly shortcrust pastry that contains a heart of delicious custard with an unmistakable taste. Pasticciotto is a dessert that is traditionally eaten for breakfast, but it is also perfect for snacks and as a dessert to end meals on a sweet note. If you are a lover of Apulian cuisine, you can’t miss it too Broad bean puree and the classic Apulian Focaccia. Here is the recipe for the lovely and fragrant shortbread cakes, with creamy filling to be enjoyed while still hot, which we can easily prepare in the kitchen… waiting to go and taste them in Puglia!

Shortcrust pastry preparation

1

In a large bowl, start arranging the flour, sugar, a pinch of salt, the lemon zest and the butter at room temperature into small pieces. Work with your hands, crumbling the butter as it is incorporated into the dry ingredients. This is the ‘sandblasting’ to transform the ingredients into a consistency similar to sand.

2

Once you get the right sandy consistency, add the egg yolks.

3

Continue to knead until the mixture is smooth, homogeneous and compact. Form a loaf.

4

On a tray, with the help of a rolling pin, roll out the pastry dough until it is about half a cm thick.

5

Cover the shortcrust pastry sheet with cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Custard preparation

1

While the shortcrust pastry is left to rest in the refrigerator, prepare the custard. In a bowl, mix the egg yolks with the sugar, using a fork.

2

Add the flour and continue mixing, until the mixture is smooth and homogeneous.

3

In a saucepan, heat the milk over low heat, together with the lemon zest.

4

When it comes to a boil, pour the hot milk into the bowl along with the yolks and sugar mixture. Mix to incorporate everything.

5

Once the ingredients have been incorporated, pour everything back into the pot and cook over medium heat. Continue to mix while the cream thickens slowly, using a whisk. This will prevent lumps from forming and the cream from burning.

6

Once the custard has thickened, transfer it to a bowl and cover it with cling film in contact with the cream. Leave to cool.

Pasticciotti preparation

1

Take the shortcrust pastry from the refrigerator and, with a pastry bowl (or a glass), cut into discs of dough of two different sizes: the larger ones will form the base of the basket that contains the cream, while the smaller ones will be used to close it on the surface. The diameter will vary according to the size of the molds you will use.

2

Place the larger discs of dough inside the molds (in our case we used the round cupcake molds to which we added some paper cups). Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork.

3

Pour a teaspoon of custard into the center of each basket of pastry until it almost reaches the edge of the pastry.

4

Place the smaller discs on the surface of the cream to close the sweet. Seal the edges using your fingers and pressing lightly on the sides.

5

Brush the surface with beaten egg yolk or milk and cook the Pasticciotti in a preheated static oven at 180 ° C for 15 minutes.
Always check the cooking with a toothpick, which once skewered must be dry. Also check the browning of the surface. Once cooked, take them out of the oven, sprinkle them with icing sugar to taste and finally serve them still hot.

Variant with black cherry

1

One of the variations to the classic Lecce Pasticciotti is the one that sees the insertion of a sour cherry in the center of the sweet, together with the custard, or other red fruits. We have added 3 blueberries to give an even more delicious touch to the Pasticciotto.

Accessories

• Two large bowls
• A fork
• A saucepan
• Hand whisk
• Rolling pin
• Transparent film
• Pasta bowl with two different diameters (depending on the size of the molds)
• Mold for cupcakes or muffins (or, better still, special oval Pasticciotti molds) and paper cups

Tips and tricks

• Traditionally the Pasticciotto has one oval shape slightly elongated. There are special molds for this type of dessert, which can be found in stores stocked with pastry accessories. But if you don’t have them, you can still make delicious Apulian Pasticciotti using even simple cupcake or muffin molds (as we did).
• We have created a shortcrust pastry with a dosage that allows you to have a multipurpose, soft and versatile dough also for other desserts (biscuits, pies). The pastry can be prepared in different ways depending on the amount of butter compared to the total weight of the ingredients. In this case we will go to sandblasting butter and flour, or crumbling the butter and at the same time incorporating it into the flour. Then we will add the yolk, it will be enough to work a few minutes with your hands to have a compact dough.
• In general, you should never work the pastry too much, to avoid heating the dough, which is why it must be allowed to cool in the fridge. Once we have taken the shortcrust pastry to form the tartlets, we can cool it again, putting the molds in the fridge, before going to bake in the oven.
• We can add to the inside in addition to the cream of black cherries (this is the most common variant of Pasticciotti from Lecce), or other fruit to taste such as blueberries and raspberries. But also the filling can vary: try them also in the version with chocolate cream, ricotta cream or with a good jam. There are many variations on the filling, according to the provinces and also to the regions, because we can find the Pasticciotti from Lecce also in the vicinity of Puglia, with various customizations.
• In our recipe we used butter for the preparation of shortcrust pastry, but tradition would see the use of lard. If you want to replace them you can do it, keeping the same doses.

storage

The Pasticciotti from Lecce are preserved for 3 days in the refrigerator, closed in an airtight container. We can let the pastry dough rest before using it, even overnight, and use it the next day for the preparation of these sweets. It is also possible to freeze both the shortcrust pastry and the still raw Pasticciotti from Lecce. In this case, cook them directly in the oven as soon as they have been removed from the freezer.

History

Although the Pasticciotti are traditionally typical of Lecce, in reality they would have been born in Galatina, a town in the province of Lecce, in 1745. It is said that they were prepared by chance, in a local pastry shop (Pasticceria Ascalone), as a recipe for recycling to use the pastry dough and cream left over from the preparation of a cake . In folk tales it is said that once we tasted this dessert, we fell in love so much that it quickly became known and appreciated throughout the province.

According to other historical testimonies, however, the Pasticciotto was born much earlier and in Rome. According to this version, these sweets with a creamy heart would have been produced already in the sixteenth century and it was a recipe book from 1570 to tell it. The recipe was then adopted by the Salento peninsula during the 1800s, to record the maximum artisan production of Pasticciotti during the economic boom of the 1950s and 1960s. Today the Pasticciotto from Lecce is also recognized by the Ministry of Agricultural Policies as a heritage of the city of Lecce and the surrounding area.