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1
Cook the Peas Until Mushy
25 Mins • Saucepan
Gentle simmer, about 95°C (200°F)
Rinse the split peas, tip them into a saucepan with 500 ml (2 cups) of cold water, and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for about 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the peas are soft and falling apart into a thick mash. Drain well in a sieve and leave to cool — the filling must be cold before it meets the pastry.
Do not add salt to the pea cooking water; salted too early, dried peas stay tough. The salt goes in when you mash them.
Done when: Peas soft enough to crush easily between finger and thumb, with no hard centres.
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2
Make Both Fillings
10 Mins • Two Bowls
Room temperature
For the ricotta filling, stir the ricotta, beaten egg, parmesan, nutmeg, 2 g of salt and the pepper together until smooth and thick. For the pea filling, warm the olive oil in a small pan, soften the diced onion for 4–5 minutes until translucent, stir in the curry powder for 30 seconds, then mash in the cooled peas with 3 g of salt until you have a thick, spreadable paste. Taste the pea filling and add a little more salt if it needs it — it should taste well seasoned on its own.
Both fillings should be thick enough to hold a spoon upright. A runny filling leaks in the oven and glues the layers together.
Done when: Ricotta filling smooth and spoonable; pea filling a thick, fragrant mash that holds its shape.
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3
Layer the Filo
15 Mins • Work Surface
Room temperature
Heat the oven to 220°C (425°F) and line two baking trays with baking paper. Unroll the filo and divide it into two stacks of six sheets. Working with one stack at a time and keeping the other covered with a damp tea towel, lay the first sheet down and brush it all over with melted butter. Lay the next sheet on top, brush again, and repeat until all six sheets are layered. Cut the stack into 10 rectangles, about 13 cm (5 in) across. Repeat with the second stack, so you have 20 rectangles in total.
Brush right to the edges — dry corners are the ones that burn first, and butter is what turns the layers crisp and golden.
Done when: Two stacks of six buttered sheets each, cut into 20 neat rectangles, edges still supple.
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4
Shape the Diamonds and Half-Moons
15 Mins • Work Surface
Room temperature
Take one rectangle at a time. For the 10 ricotta pastizzi, spoon about a heaped tablespoon (about 33 g) of ricotta filling into the centre, then fold the two opposite corners in to meet over the filling and pinch the two ends into points — the classic diamond shape. For the 10 pea pastizzi, spread about a heaped tablespoon (about 35 g) of pea filling in a log down the centre, fold the rectangle in half over it, and pinch the rounded edge shut to make a half-moon. That is how Maltese bakers tell them apart: diamonds are ricotta, half-moons are peas. Set them on the lined trays, seam-side down.
Do not overfill — a heaped tablespoon is enough. Overfilled pastizzi burst open in the oven and the filling dries out.
Done when: 10 neat diamonds and 10 neat half-moons, edges pinched shut, no filling peeking out.
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5
Bake Until Deep Gold
22 Mins • Oven
220°C (425°F)
Brush the tops of the pastizzi with the remaining melted butter. Bake for 20–25 minutes until puffed, deep golden brown and flaky, swapping the trays halfway through if your oven browns unevenly. The layers should look crisp and separated, like fine shavings of pastry.
Do not open the oven in the first 10 minutes — the layers are still puffing and a blast of cool air can flatten them.
Done when: Deep golden, crisp and flaky all over; the filling inside is steaming hot and has reached at least 74°C (165°F) — the egg in the ricotta filling must be fully cooked.
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6
Rest and Serve Hot
5 Mins • Cooling Rack
Room temperature
Move the pastizzi to a rack and rest for 5 minutes. The filling is scalding straight from the oven and needs a moment to settle, and the pastry stays crisp while it does.
Eat them warm, within the first hour — that is when the layers shatter and the filling is at its creamiest. This is how they are sold from the pastizzerija: hot, in a paper bag, eaten on the street.
Done when: Cool enough to hold, still warm inside, layers crisp to the touch.
auto_awesome Finishing Touches & Plating
Serve two per person, one diamond and one half-moon, hot from the oven, with a cold Kinnie or a tomato salad on the side. Break one open at the table — the layers should shatter and fall away in crisp flakes.
Malta
2h 50m
Spain
Vietnam