For single crust pastry
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg yolk, beaten
6 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

For filling
1 cup rice
3 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup blanched almonds, roasted and finely chopped
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
Finely grated zest of 1 small lemon mixed with 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)


Equipment needed
Large deep pie pan, well-greased

To make the filling

Place rice, milk, sugar, salt and butter in a double boiler and cook until rice is tender.

Remove from heat and cool.

Mix cooked rice mixture with eggs.

Add almond extract to the rice-egg mixture.

Add vanilla extract, lemon zest (Optional).



To make the pie crust

Cut butter into flour.

Using a fork, stir in 1 egg yolk.

Form the dough into a ball.

Roll out the dough.

Place the rolled out dough in a well-greased pie pan.



To finish pie

Add filling to the large pie pan lined with the dough.

Press the finely chopped almonds to the dough (Alternatively, one can mix the almonds into the rice-egg mixture).

Bake in a preheated 325 F. degrees oven until center is dry and the top is golden -- about 30 to 40 minutes.

The recipe in this entry was adapted from one published in the cookbook, "Sunset Italian Cookbook" by the editors of Sunset Books and Sunset Magazine (Menlo Park, California: Lane Publishing, 1981). The cookbook can be borrowed for free on the on-line public library, www.openlibrary.org.... P.S. A note accompanying this recipe in the cookbook, 'Sunset Italian Cook Book,' states: "As part of the Easter festival in Bologna, homes are cleaned, decorated and then blessed. Often this simple country cake is prepared as a gift to the priest. Its homespun flavor is reminiscent of rice pudding." Incidentally, I tried this recipe and liked it a lot. I used a lot more rice than the original recipe called for (1/4 cup) because I found it wasn't nearly enough to make a decent-sized pie. Even though the directions ask for a double boiler, I didn't use it. I actually par-boiled the rice, and then cooked it in the milk-sugar mixture. Doing this simplified the process, and ensured that the rice didn't get burned (Cooking rice in milk can prove to be disastrous!). The original recipe did not ask for lemon zest but as I like this flavor I added it; I also added orange zest, but this might not appeal to everyone. Adding orange zest makes it more of a Southern Italian rice pie, than a Northern one, so one should be aware of it if one decides to use it. In any case, I found that the rice pie made with this recipe is as favorable as those that include ricotta, and to top it all, it is much cheaper to do. Personal comments and photo: Mary Melfi.

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