It’s February: the dog days of winter. All the bills have come in now for Christmas. Your gas and electric bill is higher than normal due to less daylight and low temperatures. If you have children, registration is due for spring sports and summer camps. We know the price of everything has skyrocketed over the past year or so…and now eggs…EGGS are a Valentine’s meme due to how expensive they have become. I’m going to share some cost-saving recipes and measures as it’s all about stretching your dollar this month!
Just because we’re saving money this month doesn’t mean we can’t still celebrate! This pie right here is a celebration of National Almond Day, but it is also a pie I would have every year in my adolescent/teen years on my birthday. All I knew was there was chocolate and ricotta and some unknown-to-me-at-the-time luscious flavor (almond extract - it’s what makes Italian cookies taste so amazing, too). What I didn’t know however, is that its origins were from a restaurant a mere 30 miles from my house. Geppetto, all locations now closed, was a pizzeria in the heart of Georgetown at 2919 M St, NW and had another location in Bethesda, MD.
We had never eaten there as a family. My parents never ate there, either. So, how did we come to feast upon one of their famous desserts? It was most likely due to a feature in the Washington Post’s food section (in 1981!). This recipe may have also been published in Bon Appetit, though I can’t track it down on their site. All I know is this recipe holds and brought me back to my childhood. My daughters loved it, even my wife loved it and she’s not a big sweets person. It’s super simple, and if you don’t mind the pie being a little darker, forgo the removal of the chocolate dust (as that was the way my mom made it, as well). Below is the original recipe, as published in the Washington Post nearly 42 years ago.
Geppetto’s Dolce de Ricotta
from The Washington Post, Alvin Snodgrass & Rhyder McClure
A slice of cake goes for about $12 in a traditional Italian Restaurant in DC. Getting the ingredients for this pie will cost about $30 and yield at least 12 slices of cake, making it $2.50/portion. That’s a big amount of savings, no matter how you slice it! Plus, if you have leftover graham crackers and chocolate, make this s’mores dessert!
1 sleeve of graham crackers
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips + more chocolate for shaving
6 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
15 oz container of ricotta cheese
¾ cup sugar
2 cups whipping (or heavy) cream
1 tsp almond extract
Preheat the oven to 350. Place your chocolate chips in a small ziplock back and place in the freezer.
Break up the graham cracker and process into crumbs in a food processor. You can also place them in a zip lock bag and beat them to death with a rolling pin.
Dump the crumbs into a 9-inch pie plate and pour in the melted butter. Mix well and then firmly press the crust into the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Place in the oven and bake for about 11 minutes. Cool completely on a rack.
Meanwhile, toast your almonds and allow to cool, then process them into small crumbs. Mix together with the ricotta and sugar.
Place the frozen chocolate chips in the food processor and pulverize for about 10 seconds (or 20 pulses). Fancy (as pictured): Place the mixture into a fine mesh sieve and bang out the chocolate powder, leaving only the chips. Stir the chips into the ricotta Homestyle: process, but don’t sift out the chocolate dust and mix everything together - the pie will take on a darker tone from the chocolate powder - I didn’t mind this at all as a child and may even make the pie taste a bit chocolatier.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a hand mixer) start to whip the cream. Once a little frothy, add in the almond extract and continue processing until medium-firm peaks hold. Then fold the whipped almond cream into the ricotta mixture until just combined.
Pour the contents into the cooled crust and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, overnight is even better. My mom would place the pie in the freezer for about 20 minutes before slicing as well.
Once ready to serve, remove the pie from the fridge (or freezer) and shave on some additional chocolate. You can even add some sliced almonds on top too. Slice the pie with a serrated knife and run a sharp knife between the side of the pie plate and crust before removing with a pie server.
______________________________ Copyright 2023, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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