Honey Ricotta Pie (with no-roll gluten-free pie crust)

Celebrate your weekend or any other planned get-together with this beautiful Ricotta pie.

It's deliciously filled with creamy honey, and orange-zest flavored ricotta cheese, while the crust is subtly sweet with that perfect hint of rum. You will be in tart heaven!

Although traditionally served with Easter, this ricotta dessert is so easy to make with its 5 minutes no-roll pie crust, so you can easily enjoy it year-round.

Yes, kids can eat this ricotta pie as well, since the tiny amount of alcohol will cook away, and only a deliciously flavored crust is left, giving off nutty and vanilla tasting notes—my daughter loves this pie!

It's a ricotta bake that is gluten-free with a deliciously creamy filling and rustic pie crust.

You'll appreciate this ricotta pie recipe because it is straightforward to make, yet it looks so rustic and gorgeous once it comes out of the oven.

And it tastes amazing!

• From the filling to the crust, the sweetness is wonderfully balanced. I often make it as an Easter pie dessert;
• But it equally belongs on a cozy brunch table—think delicious homemade egg dishes, fruity drinks, mocktails, or coffee drinks, and the colorful display of nut butter spreads, jams, waffles, or sweet bread next to your favorite cheeses, charcuterie, and the rustic look of this Ricotta cheese pie to add a delicious sweet treat.
• Kids and adults alike get really excited about this bake in my household.
• And it's purely designed to keep your family and friends around the table for a little while longer as you catch up, relax and indulge in a slice of this Italian ricotta pie.

Any leftovers store easily in the fridge for up to one week—best stored in an airtight container or at least covered.

And it's lovely to enjoy any extra slices with your favorite cup of coffee or tea as an afternoon indulgence.

How to make ricotta pie

There are two parts to making this pie.

First, there is the creamy ricotta filling:

• Sweetened with only honey;
• Adding a natural orange taste;
• Mixed with whipped egg whites to get a light, creamy texture;
• And only adding a small amount of gluten-free flour so the pie filling develops the right amount of firmness during baking;
• The ricotta filling is then briefly stored in the fridge to keep it firm while making the pie dough.

Then there is the pie crust:

• It's a homemade no-roll dough that easily comes together—no rolling pin required;
• Everything is mixed by hand and pushed evenly into a pie pan;
• It doesn't have to be thin either; it's more of a free-form tart-like rustic-looking crust that will have a nice crunchy bite to it;
• Delicious flavorings are added too like vanilla extract and subtle nutty undertones from a good Brandy or rum;
• It's also lightly sweetened with coconut sugar to add some hint of caramel;
• You can even make this in advance and store it well wrapped for a few days in the fridge.

Let's make it.

The ricotta cheese filling

We're making the ricotta filling first. It is super easy to make, and you want to refrigerate the creamy mixture while preparing the crust to firm up a little.

Ingredients & notes

Ricotta cheese

You can choose whole milk or part-skim ricotta cheese. However, the part-skim version can sometimes contain more liquid in the box. Therefore, always drain it to obtain a solid and creamy texture.

I prefer the whole milk ricotta cheese—rich but not too heavy and with a fuller flavor. But either one will work. 

Flour

Adding four tablespoons of flour thickens the mixture, adds an extra soft texture to the filling and the right amount of firmness once baked.

I like to use either gluten-free all-purpose flour or cassava flour.

Orange zest

Use a Microplane or any grater to zest half to one orange—depending on its size—to get one tablespoon of orange zest. It adds that citrusy, tangy flavor to this beautiful ricotta pie recipe.

Only zest the colorful part of the peel and not the white part. You want to avoid the more bitter flavors of the orange pith.

I usually rework the peeled orange in a green smoothie.

Honey

If you can, go for liquid honey. For this recipe, I like all-natural wildflower or Orange blossom honey.

They go well with the orange flavor and are always readily available at almost all stores or online.

How to make the ricotta filling

The pie dough

This is not your typical super flaky pie crust but nonetheless deliciously crumbly and full of flavor.

It's a healthier version of a pie dough than normally used in an Italian ricotta recipe. We love this beautiful rustic-looking sweet crust made with a combination of Teff flour—an ancient grain—and gluten-free all-purpose flour.

And everything is easily formed by hand.

Ingredients & a few extra notes

Flour

I love to use a mix between gluten-free all-purpose flour and Teff flour—also gluten-free (see extra notes below).

Teff flour adds not only a good amount of nutrition but also a lovely natural sweetness to the crust and a beautiful rustic red-brownish color—Bob's Red Mill sells a good stone-ground version.

Sweetener

Coconut sugar and vanilla extract add an extra hint of sweetness.

I've never tried it before, but I imagine that you could easily use brown sugar instead if you don't have any coconut sugar at hand.

Butter

You don't need any chilled butter. Instead, the recipe calls for butter at room temperature (soft enough to easily combine it by hand with the rest of the ingredients).

Go for unsalted butter if you can, but no worries, I've used salted butter before as well.

Brandy or rum

What gives the pie crust a more sophisticated flavor is the addition of Brandy or rum. You can choose either one, but if I have both available I'll go for Brandy.

Brandy is made with wine or fermented fruit juices, while rum is made using molasses or sugarcane juices.

There is NO BOOZY taste, rather it is added for moisture, a crumblier texture, and a richer flavor that goes well with the orange-flavored ricotta cheese.

Don't skip this ingredient.

Eggs

I'm adding two large beaten eggs to make the crust beautifully compact.

It's best to take the eggs out 30 minutes before making the pie dough to have them at room temperature.

How to make the no-roll pie crust

1. In a large bowl whisk the flour with the coconut sugar. Make quick swishing motions to mix the ingredients and fluff it.
2. Then add the butter, vanilla extract, eggs, and Brandy. Combine the ingredient by hand until you have a rough bowl of pie dough.
3. Transfer the dough into the center of a removable tart/pie pan. I usually lightly butter the bottom of the pan a little (optional).
4. Push the dough into the pie pan and up the sides, using your hands. You want to get the dough at an even thickness throughout—no thick corners either.

Assemble

Now all that is left is putting it together.

Easy pie topping design—optional

This tart doesn't need any garnish. It looks incredible once baked with its golden colors.

But if you want to take it a step further, keep it simple with orange rind matchsticks.

• Cut the peel of the other half of the orange (or a second small orange) into large segments.
• Remove any thick white parts from the inside of the peel.
• Flatten the segments out on the cutting board with the palm of your hand.
• And then, with a sharp knife, cut from end to end into thin sticks.
• Give each orange stick a light squeeze to bend them a bit and arrange crisscross on one side of the tart—see picture.
• You can add some edible flowers, sprinkle extra orange zest, sift on top some powdered sugar, or use some dried or fake eucalyptus leaves—these are just a few suggestions.

Equipment needed to make this ricotta pie

This is one of the easiest ricotta bakes you'll ever make. Since most of it is made by hand you don't need a lot of special equipment.

I do recommend a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom (I have a few that are very affordable). And if you have a stand mixer to whip the egg whites, perfect, if not, a hand mixer can work too.

Other than that, I recommend a whisk and a spatula as they are handy to combine the cheese filling and evenly divide it into the pie crust.

This Italian dessert

• Is beautifully rustic looking;
• Deliciously creamy, slightly sweet, and wonderfully soft in the middle;
• It has that buttery, almost cookie-like crust that everyone will love;
• And sophisticated flavors due to the orange zest and a tad of Brandy or rum;
• Around the Holidays, this tart is always a family favorite.

Enjoy this sweet ricotta pie!

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You might also like my No Bake Mascarpone Fruit and Amaretto Tart—another one of my favorite! Or try this elegant fig and walnut yeast-leavened cake.

This post was originally published in April 2017 and has since been updated with new pictures and new information.