Pastizzi are small Maltese savoury pastries with a crisp, flaky shell and a ricotta or spiced-pea filling. One pastry is a pastizz; pastizzi is the plural. They are best served warm, when the pastry layers are crisp and the filling is hot.

Ready to bake? Choose ricotta pastizzi for a mild cheese filling or pea pastizzi for a dairy-free filling when made with suitable pastry fat. Both recipes make 12 pastries and use a folded home pastry method.

Visiting Malta? Use the checked guide to trying pastizzi in Rabat for what to order and practical information about Is-Serkin / Crystal Palace.

Which Pastizzi Recipe Should I Use?

For a first batch, choose one filling and follow its full method. Making both recipes at once means preparing two fillings as well as enough dough for 24 pastries.

Beyond Ricotta and Peas: Modern Pastizzi Fillings

Ricotta and spiced peas remain the two classic fillings, but modern pastizzi are no longer limited to that pair. Bakers in Malta and Maltese communities abroad increasingly treat the flaky shell as a format: some keep the filling recognisably Maltese, while others borrow from restaurant dishes, international cuisines, or desserts.

This experimentation has been developing for years. In 2012, a Times of Malta profile of Marilù Vella and Pastizzi Gourmet described ricotta with broad beans, combinations involving ġbejniet and peas, corned beef, dessert pastizzi, and a seasonal cranberry-and-ricotta filling. The important change was not only the number of flavours; it was the idea that a pastizz could follow the season or an occasion instead of staying on a fixed menu.

Later examples show how broad that idea became:

These are documented examples, not a definitive menu. A 2019 GuideMeMalta survey of unusual fillings recorded beetroot with goat cheese and thyme, pea with coriander, sweet chocolate fillings, and several creations from Sydney’s Pastizzi Cafe. In 2021, SBS Food reported that the Newtown café made about 19 flavours, including beef and dark ale, Mexi-bean, berry and custard, and chicken and chorizo. In Malta, chicken has moved beyond the experimental category: Sphinx currently lists chicken pastizzi as part of its range.

Not every creative filling becomes a standard, and some appear only as limited editions. It is therefore useful to distinguish traditional fillings from modern Maltese variations, diaspora adaptations, and one-off experiments. That distinction celebrates innovation without suggesting that every chocolate, meat, or vegetable version has the same history as pastizzi tal-irkotta or pastizzi tal-piżelli.

For home baking, the same pastry rules still apply. A new filling should be thick, cool, and not too wet; loose sauces, watery vegetables, or warm mixtures can prevent the seam from closing and soften the layers. Cook meat fully as required, reduce vegetable mixtures before cooling, and keep sweet fillings firm enough that they do not run out in the oven.

What Makes Pastizzi Pastry Flaky?

The dough is stretched or rolled thinly, spread with fat, folded, rested, and chilled. Those layers separate in the oven. The home methods on this site simplify the stretching and rolling used by skilled pastizzeriji, so the result will not reproduce every bakery layer exactly.

Keep the dough cool enough that the fat stays within the layers. If it smears onto the worktop or the pastry becomes difficult to lift, chill it before continuing. If the dough springs back while rolling, cover and rest it rather than forcing it thinner.

Ready-made puff pastry is a practical shortcut when the filling is your priority. Follow the pack’s baking guidance and expect a different shape and texture from the homemade versions.

Pastizzi vs Qassatat

Pastizzi and qassatat can both contain ricotta or peas, but they are not two names for the same pastry.

Use the qassatat guide for the open-topped pastries and their three fillings. For a direct comparison, make either the ricotta or pea version in both pastry styles.

How to Shape and Bake Pastizzi at Home

Use the quantities and oven temperature in your chosen recipe. These checks apply to both fillings:

1. Cool the filling before it touches the pastry. Warm filling softens the fat between the layers.
2. Keep the filling compact and away from the edges that need to be pinched together.
3. Shape one pastry first. If it will not close without stretching or tearing, use a little less filling in the remaining pieces.
4. Leave space between the pastries on the tray so hot air can reach their sides.
5. Check the underside as well as the top. A dark-golden top can hide a pale, doughy base.

The pastizzi should be deeply golden and crisp rather than merely pale. Serve them after a short rest, while the pastry is still at its best.

Fillings, Serving, and Reheating

Joseph C. Camilleri’s account of Maltese snacks describes pastizzi with tea or coffee in Rabat pastry shops. At home, serve them as a warm snack, a light lunch with salad, or part of a small pastry selection.

For a mixed platter, keep ricotta and pea pastries identifiable. The cheese filling contains dairy and egg; the pea filling can suit a vegan meal only when the pastry fat and every packaged ingredient are also suitable.

Refrigerate cooked pastizzi within two hours and eat them within 48 hours, or freeze them. Reheat once in a hot oven until the centre is steaming. A microwave warms the filling but softens the pastry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are pastizzi sweet or savoury?

The two pastizzi recipes on this site are savoury. Ricotta pastizzi contain seasoned cheese without sugar; pea pastizzi contain a spiced split-pea filling.

Can I make pastizzi with puff pastry?

Yes, as a shortcut. The finished layers and shape will differ from a traditional pastizz, but ready-made puff pastry lets you concentrate on preparing and cooling the filling.

Why did my pastizzi leak?

The filling may have been warm or wet, the pastry may have been overfilled, or filling may have reached the edges before they were pinched. Drain ricotta well, cook pea filling until thick, and cool either filling completely.

What should I make next?

Try qassatat for a sturdier open pastry, or explore Maltese street food and Maltese baking and pastry for more dough projects.