Artichoke Easter Pie

I've based this artichoke recipe on an Italian Easter dish and it's close enough to be 'authentic', with it's mix of ricotta cheese, eggs, Mediterranean herbs and fried artichoke hearts.

For the pie crust, you can use your favorite pastry but the olive oil mix I give is traditional. Note how any extra moisture needed is achieved by adding cream or ricotta cheese and not water or milk.

For a pie serving 6/8 you need:

• 1 tin artichoke hearts (about 10 hearts)
• 375g ricotta cheese
• 4 hard-boiled eggs
• 1 bunch basil
• 1 bunch flat leaf parsley
• 200g pastry
• salt and pepper

To make the pastry you need:

• 200g plain (all-purpose) flour
• 2 eggs
• 2tbs olive oil
• pinch salt
• Some ricotta cheese or cream (if needed)

Mix all these ingredients in food mixer using the pastry paddle, if you have one. If not use the blade on pulse. You will find that the pastry comes together in a ball, at which point wrap it in clingfilm and leave it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

If the pastry remains too crumbly add some ricotta cheese or cream and mix it in well. This will give you a very workable, but slightly tough, pastry.

For the pie:

Finely chop half the herbs and stir them into the ricotta cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Peel the hard-boiled eggs and cut them in half lengthways.

Cut the artichoke hearts in quarters lengthways and lightly fry them in a little olive oil and salt so that they have just started to take color. Be careful not to overcook them. Undercooking is not a problem.

Now roll out two thirds of the pastry and line a 20cm (8 inch) deep pie dish with it, trimming away an excess. Prick the base liberally with a fork.

Spread half the ricotta mix over the pastry base, place the egg halves on top of this and then add the remaining cheese.

Now add the fried artichoke hearts in an even layer and season with some freshly ground black pepper.

To finish off your pie, draw the edges of the pastry inward so they are away from the side of the pie dish and paint them with beaten egg.

Roll out the remaining pastry into a rough 20cm circle and lay this over the pie, pressing the edges well down into the dish. Paint with beaten egg and poke a few holes in the top of the crust to let steam out during cooking. Use some of the pastry trimmings to decorate the crust with an Easter theme.

Preparing the pie in this way keeps it independent of the pie dish so that you can turn it out after cooking if you wish, without the pastry sticking to the edge of the dish.

Bake this pie in the oven at 180C, 375F, for 25 minutes or until the pastry is a golden brown. Serve warm or cold with a potato salad and cold glazed carrots, plus a good, crisp salad.

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