Pastiera, from my side of the kitchen

Michele's mom came to America to meet me for the first time just before our wedding.  She doesn't speak any English.  I didn't know much Italian then.  Everyday my husband went to work and left me to entertain his parents as best I could.

One day my new mother-in-law and I decided to bake.  Maria brought the ingredients in her suitcase for Pastiera, an Italian version of cheesecake usually prepared for Easter.  On my side of the island, I decided to make cookies and lined-up my electric mixer, 2 mixing bowls, liquid measuring cups, dry measuring cups, measuring spoons, a sifter, a spatula, a wooden spoon, 2 baking sheets and a wire rack for cooling.  All Maria asked for was a spring form pan.

As I handed it to her and waited for further instructions, she proceeded to dump several large handfuls of flour directly on the counter.  I must have looked puzzled, because she reassured me over and over, "Non e sporca," which means, "It's not dirty."   She meant my counter-top.  Then she cracked 3 eggs into the middle of the pile and started to knead.

I'm still not sure how she did it, with the crust on the bottom and a fancy lattice work on top of the filling, but Maria made the whole cake with just that one pan.  Maybe a knife or a spoon got involved somewhere along the line, but nothing more.  I was still washing dishes long after she'd gone upstairs to take her afternoon nap.

Maria's arthritis has been bothering her a lot lately and it's hard for her to stand on her feet too long.   So it's been a while since she last made a Pastiera for her oldest son.  This year I'm finally going to give it a try.  But even though I've been crossing the great cultural divide for over ten years now, I doubt I'm brave enough yet to do it bowl-less.

Here's the recipe from the back of the can:

For 12 servings:

Pour the Grano Cotto into a frying pan, adding 3 1/2 oz of milk, 1 oz. butter, and the grated skin of a lemon.  Warm it up for about 10 minutes while mixing until it becomes a cream.

In another pot whisk 1 1/2 lbs. of cottage cheese, 1 1/4 lbs. of sugar, 5 whole eggs and 2 yolks, 1 small envelope of vanilla.  (If you want to add 1 T. orange-flower water and a pinch of cinnamon).  Work this mixture until you make it very fine.  Then add some more grated lemon peel. 1/2 oz. of citron, cut into small pieces.  Mix the mixture with the Grano cream.

Prepare a puff pastry with 1 lb. of flour, 3 whole eggs, 7 oz. of sugar, and 7 oz. of lard.  Make a dough without working it for too long.  Extend it to cover the bottom of the spring form pan and then pour in the cottage cheese mixture.  Decorate the Pastiera with strips of puff pastry.  Put in a 350 degree oven and bake for about an hour.  Switch off the oven and let the Pastiera cool down.  Dust with vanilla-flavored sugar.

Good luck!  I'll add the grano cotto, orange-flower water, and kitchen scale to Maria's Kitchen in the Mercatino at School Amici, just in case your mother-in-law forgot to bring you any in her suitcase.