Ricotta Pie: An Easter Tradition Made Simple by Ang Pompano

Ang Pompano: Ricotta pie (Torta di Ricotta), one of my favorites, is a traditional Italian dessert often served at Easter to mark the end of Lent. It has a light, cheesecake-like texture and a slightly sweet filling made from ricotta cheese, eggs, sugar, and a touch of vanilla or citrus zest such as orange or lemon. This version, handed down from my wife’s great-aunt, keeps things simple with an easy graham cracker crust.

Ricotta Pie with Graham Cracker Crust

Ingredients

18 graham crackers (or 3 cups graham cracker crumbs)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 to 1 1/2 sticks butter, melted (use 1 1/2 sticks for a firmer crust)

1/4 cup flour

Ricotta Filling

2 pounds ricotta cheese

1 cup milk

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

5 eggs, separated

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions 

Prepare the Graham Cracker Crust

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon, melted butter, and flour. Mix until evenly moistened.

Press the mixture firmly into one or two 9-inch pie dishes, covering the bottom and sides evenly.

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before filling.

Instructions 

Ricotta Filling

Reduce oven temperature to 300°F.

In a large bowl, beat the ricotta cheese until smooth.

Add milk, sugar, flour, egg yolks, and vanilla. Beat until fully combined and smooth.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold the egg whites into the ricotta mixture.

Assemble and Bake

Pour the filling into the cooled crust(s).

Bake for 1 hour, or until the filling is set but still slightly soft in the center.

Allow to cool before serving.

Ricotta Pie is closely related to another favorite of mine, Ricotta and Rice pie (Pastiera di Riso), which adds cooked rice to the filling, giving it a soft, slightly grainy texture that sets it apart.

Long-time followers of Mystery Lover’s Kitchen may remember when Lucy Burdette shared a version of the rice pie from my wife’s family in 2013. If you’d like that recipe, along with a buttery crust that works beautifully for this ricotta pie as well, you can find it here.

Ang Pompano is a mystery author, editor, publisher and blogger. He writes the Blue Palmetto Detective Agency, and the Reluctant Food Columnist series, both published by Level Best Books. In addition to his writing, Ang is a co-founder of Crime Spell Books and serves as co-editor of the Best New England Crime Stories anthology. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Annette, an artist, and their two rescue dogs, Dexter and Alfie.

Just Released!

Diet of Death

by Ang Pompano

The first in the Reluctant Food Columnist series.

Buy Link

Betty Ann Green is a beloved culinary icon…who doesn’t exist. She is the brilliant, beautiful illusion created by two unlikely collaborators. Behind the façade is Quincy Lazzaro, a culinarily challenged writer whose witty, sharp prose is the public face of Betty, while those flawless, genius recipes are all thanks to his octogenarian neighbor, Mary Ticarelli.

When the arrogant diet guru, Dr. Alan Tolzer, inventor of the Westport Diet, demands a face-to-face interview, Quincy reluctantly steps in as Betty’s frontman, only for Tolzer to drop dead. The police call it natural causes, but Quincy knows better. He sees it as the investigative break he’s been waiting for.

Now, caught between a crime-solving grandma, a no-nonsense detective girlfriend, and a killer who may be one step ahead, Quincy must unravel the mystery before the killer strikes again.

When It’s Time for Leaving

by Ang Pompano

Buy Link

Al DeLucia walked away from the police—and his past. But when his long-lost father leaves him a detective agency in Savannah, Al finds himself trapped between family secrets and a murder on the agency’s dock. Partnered with Maxine Brophy, a fierce detective who doesn’t trust him, Al is pulled into a deadly search through Savannah and the Okefenokee Swamp—where the truth about the case, and his father, may cost him everything.

Blood Ties and Deadly Lies

by Ang Pompano

Buy Link

Al DeLucia returns to Sachem Creek expecting a kayak race and a chance to confront his childhood bully, Abe Cromwell. Instead, he finds a dead lawyer, a web of deceit, and Abe claiming they’re brothers by DNA. Reluctantly joined by Maxine Brophy, his formidable partner and girlfriend, Al dives into a murder investigation that exposes land swindles, hidden maps, and buried family secrets. In a town where the past won’t stay buried, Al must face truths that could upend everything.

Snakeberry: Best New England Crime Stories 2025

Edited by

Christine Bagley, Susan Oleksiw, Ang Pompano, and Leslie Wheeler

BUY LINK

Every year the anthology brings welcome surprises and satisfactions, and this year is no different, featuring stories by 21 of New England’s best crime writers.

Includes “Minnie the Air Raid Warden” by Ang Pompano.

Sauteéd Swiss Chard with Garlic, a Pun, and a Giveaway from Molly MacRae

 

Chard is lovely stuff—to look at and to eat. Here’s a delicious side dish that’s a combination of slightly caramelized, crisp-tender stems and tasty, tender greens made lively with the zip of garlic and the brightness of lemon.

This might sound like a non sequitur but bear with me. We’ll get back to chard in a few paragraphs. Have you ever attended the International Edible Book Festival? It’s actually many individual festivals, taking place around the world, on or close to April 1^st each year. Started in 2000 by Books2Eat, the festival is the brainchild of Judith A. Hoffberg and Béatrice Coron. From the Books2Eat website: “This event unites bibliophiles, book artists, and food lovers to celebrate the ingestion of culture and its fulfilling nourishment. Participants create edible books that are exhibited, documented then consumed.”

The women chose April 1^st because that’s the birthday of French gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), author of Physiologie du goût. Also because April Fools Day is a fine time to play with words and eat them, too. Many of the entries are gorgeous, artistic creations. But just as cozy mystery writers love puns, so do the many cooks whose entries involve puns.

The Chard in the Scone

Circling back to lovely chard, in 2008 I entered the International Edible Book Festival here at the University of Illinois. My creation? The Chard in the Scone. It won an award, possibly for best literary pun, but I only remember the thrill of winning and not the exact award.

April 1^st is approaching. Is there an International Edible Book Festival in your area?  

*** Giveaway ***

For your chance to win a copy of There’ll Be Shell to Pay, book 2 in my Haunted Shell Shop Mystery series, answer either (or both) of these questions:

What book title did I play around with for my edible book entry?

What book can you imagine turning into an edible masterpiece?

Put your answer(s) in a comment below and remember to give your email address, too. I’ll choose a winner at random on Brillat-Savarin’s birthday – April 1^st. (Canada and U.S. only, please)

 

Sauteéd Swiss Chard with Garlic

Adapted from The Complete Diabetes Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 garlic cloves, sliced thin

1 1/2 pounds Swiss chard, stems sliced diagonally 1/4 inch wide, leaves sliced into strips 1/2 inch wide

2 teaspoons lemon juice  

 

Directions

Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just shimmering. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, 30 to 60 seconds. Add the chard stems and cook, stirring occasionally, until spotty brown and crisp-tender, about 6 minutes.

Add half the chard leaves and cook, stirring and tossing with tongs, until just beginning to wilt, 30 to 60 seconds. Add the rest of the leaves and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until they’re tender, about 3 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice, season with pepper to taste, and serve.

 

click here for a free, printable pdf of this recipe

 

Now available for pre-order – All Shell Breaks Loose

book 3 in the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries!

 

On North Carolina’s Ocracoke Island, Maureen Nash sells exquisite seashells to locals and tourists—with Bonny the shop cat and the ghost of a Welsh pirate for company. And when needed, she steps in to help the police solve a murder . . .

Dr. Irving Allred is boasting around town that he’s about to get his hands on an authentic haunted sword. But minutes after Maureen hears the story, a woman walks into the Moon Shell, sword in hand. She found it while walking her bulldog on the beach—and its blade is stained with what looks like blood. Looks like it’s time to call the sheriff’s department.

Allred is furious that his prize is now in police custody—and even more agitated that an unknown buyer was trying to outbid him. He’s convinced the sword will lead him straight to the ghosts he’s been hunting. He’s not the only one on the Outer Banks who’s been searching for spirits, though. An odd visitor also showed up at Maureen’s shop claiming the ability to sense them . . . though somehow she didn’t seem to notice Maureen’s spectral friend hanging about.

When a man who’d been camping nearby is found cut down along the shore, Maureen starts providing some unofficial assistance to Captain Rob Tate by digging into the island’s maritime history. But it’s not the only mystery she’s facing—because the shop’s resident ghost is seeing ghosts himself . . .

  

Happy reading! 

 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Instagram or Bluesky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomato Shrimp Curry @MaddieDayAuthor #giveaway

MADDIE DAY here. 

When I was in San Francisco last month for Left Coast Crime, my cousin took me to Burma Superstar, a popular restaurant. I loved the food (especially the tea leaf salad), and when I learned there is a cookbook by the owners, I had to order a copy. 

This recipe is adapted from one I found in the book.

I might make the tea leaf salad one day, but I'll need to acquire some special ingredients for that. This curry, on the other hand, was simple and tasty and quick to prepare for a weeknight dinner.

Tomato Shrimp Curry

Adapted from the cookbook Burma Superstar: Addictive Recipes from the Crossroads of Southeast Asia by Desmond Tan and Kate Leahy.

Ingredients

1 pound large shelled shrimp, thawed

1 tablespoon fish sauce

½ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 finely diced onion

1 sweet red pepper, diced

2 stalks celery, minced (not shown in photo)

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 teaspoon curry powder

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ to 1 teaspoon Thai green chile paste

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon turmeric

2 cups diced Roma tomatoes

 

Directions

In a bowl, mix the shrimp with fish sauce and salt and let sit at room temperature.

 

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften and begin to brown, about six minutes. Stir in garlic and ginger and cook 1 minute. Add chile paste, paprika, and turmeric and stir. 

Add celery and tomatoes and cook, stirring often, until tomatoes lose their shape and soften and the sauce is thick enough to stand up on a spoon, about 7 minutes. If the tomatoes are on the dry side, add about ¼ cup of water to help them cook down.

Stir in the shrimp and gently coat in the sauce. (Sorry, I forgot to snap a photo of this stage.) Cook gently 3-5 minutes until shrimp are cooked through. Taste, adding more salt or fish sauce as desired. Serve over hot white rice or rice noodles.

 

Note: the book recommends adding 1 teaspoon shrimp paste and 1-2 Thai chiles instead of the chile paste to the sauce, and providing both cilantro and lemon wedges as garnishes. I had none of that and can’t tolerate hot peppers, thus the adaptation.

Readers: What's your favorite Asian dish? I'll send one commenter one of my special Author aprons!

🍛🍚🍛

Murder at Cape Costumers is out and available wherever book are sold!

Next up is A Poisonous Pour! This third Cece Barton mystery releases April 28.

My most recent releases are Scone Cold Dead, #13 in the Country Store Mysteries,

 Deadly Crush, 

and A Case for the Ladies.

Check out all my writing.

We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.