Cream Puffs with Ricotta and Pistachio Cream

I can provide you with a delicious recipe for cream puffs with ricotta and pistachio cream, with an Italian twist! First, you will need the following ingredients for the choux pastry (for about 25-30 cream puffs) and for the ricotta and pistachio cream.

Ingredients for the cream puffs (choux pastry):

• 125 ml of water
• 125 ml of milk
• 100 g of butter
• A pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 150 g of flour
• 4 medium eggs

Ingredients for the ricotta and pistachio cream:

• 250 g of fresh ricotta
• 100 g of unsalted pistachios
• 70 g of powdered sugar (you can adjust to taste depending on your preference for sweetness)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional)
• Finely chopped pistachios for decoration

Preparation

1. Start with the choux pastry: put water, milk, a pinch of salt, sugar, and butter cut into pieces in a saucepan. Bring to a boil until the butter has completely melted.
2. Remove from the heat and add all the flour at once, mixing vigorously with a wooden spoon until you have a homogeneous mixture.
3. Put back on the heat and continue to stir for a few minutes to dry out the dough, which will easily detach from the walls of the saucepan.
4. Transfer the dough into a bowl, let it cool down a bit, and begin to add the eggs one at a time, working the mixture until each egg is completely absorbed before adding the next.
5. Once the mixture is smooth and shiny, transfer it into a pastry bag with a plain nozzle.
6. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, form small mounds of dough spaced apart, and bake in a preheated oven at 200 °C for about 20-25 minutes or until golden. Do not open the oven during baking to avoid deflating the cream puffs.
7. While the cream puffs cool down, prepare the ricotta and pistachio cream: blend the pistachios in a mixer until you get a powder that is not too fine.
8. Sift the ricotta and combine it with the powdered sugar and pistachio powder. Add the vanilla extract if you want an additional aroma, and mix until you have a smooth cream.
9. Once the cream puffs are cool, fill them using a pastry bag with the ricotta and pistachio cream.
10. To finish, decorate the cream puffs with finely chopped pistachios.

Remember that the cream puffs should be filled just before serving to maintain their crispiness.

Curiosities

The cream puff, of French origin, is called “choux” in France because when it’s well made, its shape resembles a cabbage, or “chou” in French. The ricotta and pistachio cream is a perfect blend that encompasses the flavors of Sicily, where ricotta and Bronte pistachios are key ingredients in many sweet preparations.