This Maltese staple is flaky, tasty and generously loaded with flavourful fillings, the most popular being ricotta or peas. 

Make pastizzi in the comfort of your own home and try your hand at any fillings you fancy. Sweet or savoury, the sky’s the limit when it comes to creating a filling that goes well with this flaky pastry.

Ingredients

For the dough

120g flour
235ml water, ice cold
2 tbsp oil
pinch of salt
Shortening or lard

For the filling

850g of ricotta
50g Parmesan
Pinch parsley, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Method

1. Make the filling by mixing all of the ingredients and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C.
3. Mix the flour, water, oil and salt in a stand mixer with the dough hook attached.
4. The dough is ready when it comes away from the sides of the bowl and is elastic.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl and rub lightly with lard or shortening.
6. Let the dough sit for 15 mins and then cover in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 mins.
7. Cut the dough in half and working one half at a time stretch and roll out the dough into a rectangle shape.
8. Roll the dough until very thin and almost see-through.
9. Rub the top of the dough with a thick layer of lard or shortening.
10. Start rolling the dough on itself in as you would a roly poly. The tighter you can get this the better as this is what determines the flakiness of the finished product.
11. Once the dough has been rolled up into a sausage shape, roll out the second half of the dough and cover in lard or shortening as you did with the first half.
12. When you come to roll the second half, place the first sausage-shaped roll onto the rolled out pastry and roll them together into one sausage shape.
13. Lay it in a coil and put it in the freezer until almost frozen. This makes it easier to cut and work at later stages.
14. Remove from the freezer and cut a 4-inch slice off the end. You should be able to see all the layers from when you rolled the pastry.
15. Place the slice between two layers of plastic wrap with the interior layers facing up.
16. Roll into a circle shape and place a tablespoon of filling into the centre.
17. Fold one of the edges until it meets the other, squashing the ends together to make a… err… pastizz-shape.
18. Lay it on a greased baking sheet and either freeze or bake.
19. Bake the pastizzi for 20 mins until golden.

Indulge in these freshly baked pastizzi with a good old cup of warm tea.  Delicious.