🇲🇹 Maltese Recipes

Traditional Mediterranean Cuisine

Qassatat tal-Irkotta (Maltese Ricotta Pies)

Make 10 Maltese ricotta qassatat with shortcrust pastry, a savoury cheese filling, and an open pleated top. Includes shaping and troubleshooting advice.

Prep: 35 minutes (plus 30 minutes chilling and any ricotta draining time) Cook: 35 minutes Servings: 10 qassatat
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Watercolour illustration of golden pleated Maltese qassatat with white ricotta filling and black pepper.

Ingredients

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Measures: 1 tbsp = 15ml; 1 tsp = 5ml. For local ingredient names and substitutions, see our guide to Maltese ingredients abroad.

Instructions

  1. Make the pastry: Mix the flour and salt. Rub in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 100ml cold water, adding the remaining water a teaspoon at a time only if needed to bring the dough together. Press into a disc without prolonged kneading, wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  2. Prepare the filling: Drain any free liquid from the ricotta before weighing out 500g. Mash with the salt and pepper, adjusting the seasoning before adding the beaten egg. Mix in the egg and refrigerate while you roll the dough. The mixture should hold a soft mound on a spoon.
  3. Divide and roll: Heat the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C) and line two baking trays. Divide the pastry into 10 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll each into a circle about 14cm across and 3-4mm thick. Keep unused portions covered and cool.
  4. Fill and pleat: Divide the ricotta mixture between the centres, about 55g per circle, leaving a wide border. Lift one section of pastry, fold the next section slightly over it, and press together. Continue around the filling, making overlapping pleats. Join the final pleat to the first and leave an opening about 3cm wide at the top.
  5. Brush and bake: Lift onto the trays with space between the pies. Brush the outside pastry lightly with egg wash. Bake for 30-35 minutes, swapping the trays if needed for even browning, until the pastry is golden underneath and the filling is set and steaming hot in the centre. If using a thermometer, the centre should reach 75°C for 30 seconds.
  6. Rest and serve: Leave on the trays for 5 minutes, then transfer carefully to a rack. Serve warm, allowing the hot filling to cool enough to eat.

Qassatat tal-Irkotta are individual savoury ricotta pies with a gathered pastry shell and a visible cheese centre. This recipe makes 10, using butter shortcrust and a plain ricotta filling. Allow about 1 hour 45 minutes for preparation, chilling, baking, and a short rest, plus extra draining time if the cheese is wet.

For other fillings and a comparison with pastizzi, see the qassatat guide.

Choosing and Draining Ricotta

Buy a firm ricotta if available. If liquid collects in the tub, drain the cheese in a fine sieve over a bowl in the refrigerator, then weigh the amount for the filling. Very wet ricotta may need several hours, so check it before beginning the pastry.

The filling should sit in the centre of a pastry circle without spreading across it. Do not add extra egg to loosen it. Fresh Ä¡bejniet have a different texture and seasoning; this recipe’s quantities are written for ricotta. Use our Maltese cheese guide when choosing cheese for another dish.

Getting the Pleats to Hold

Keep the dough cool but flexible. If it cracks immediately when lifted, let it soften slightly before trying again. If it feels greasy or slumps, put it back in the refrigerator briefly.

Make the first pie before filling the rest. Keep the pastry border clean, press each overlap firmly, and support the filling as you work around it. The top should remain open; do not stretch the sides to close it completely. Reduce the filling slightly if your first circle is difficult to gather, then adjust the remaining portions.

Ingredient Substitutions Outside Malta

Plain supermarket ricotta works when drained to the texture above. For a pastry shortcut, use about 700g unsweetened ready-made shortcrust, checking its rolling and baking instructions. Puff pastry expands differently and changes the shape and texture.

This recipe contains wheat, dairy, and egg. Choose ricotta labelled suitable for vegetarians if needed. For a different filling, follow the complete pea qassatat recipe rather than adding wet peas to this cheese mixture.

Serving, Storage, and Reheating

Serve with sliced tomatoes or a green salad. For more than one kind of pastry, browse Maltese baking and pastry.

Cool leftovers and refrigerate within two hours; eat within 48 hours or freeze. Defrost frozen pies in the refrigerator before reheating. Reheat once, until steaming hot all the way through. An oven helps restore the pastry’s crispness; cover loosely if the tops brown before the centres are hot. These handling and temperature checks follow the Food Standards Agency’s cooking guidance.

Ricotta in an open pastry shell

Qassatat sit alongside other savoury pies in the Maltese and Gozitan bakery repertoire. Visit Gozo’s bakery guide includes them among the baked foods found on the island.

This home version pairs the shortcrust used in our qassatat recipes with a simple ricotta-and-egg filling. Tal-Forn’s ricotta qassatat is a reference for that filling style; cheese moisture and additions vary between recipes. Here the ricotta is weighed after draining, and the seasoning stays simple.