Recipe: Pastizzu in the style of Oletta

Name: Pastizzu à la mode d'Oletta
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 70 min
Total time: 85 min
Yield: 6 portions
Ingredients: 1 litre de lait entier + 1 verre de lait entier; 15 cs rases de sucre semoule + pour le caramel du moule (selon sa taille); 4 ou 5 belles tranches de pain de campagne rassis (beaucoup de mie mais aussi un peu de croûte); 7 oeufs; 1 sachet de sucre vanillé ou 2 gouttes de vanille liquide; le zeste de 1 citron; 1 noisette de beurre

By Dubarry ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 (3 reviews) Desserts

Prep 15 min

Cook 70 min

Total 1h25

Servings 6 serv.

The pastizzu is a traditional dessert from Upper Corsica served with coffee; it therefore uses ingredients produced locally (except sugar and vanilla which have been easy to find for a very long time). Today (since the arrival of pieds noirs and Moroccan agricultural workers), the bread is replaced by semolina, except among some die-hards, including my cousin, former cook for a wealthy family in Oletta).

With bread, the pastizzu is lighter and develops a biscuity flavor which, with lemon and vanilla, gives birth to a secondary fragrance...

Ingredients for 6 servings

1 liter of whole milk + 1 glass of whole milk
15 tablespoons of granulated sugar + for the caramel of the mold (according to its size)
4 or 5 beautiful slices of stale country bread (lots of crumb but also some crust)
7 eggs
1 packet of vanilla sugar or 2 drops of liquid vanilla
the zest of 1 lemon
1 hazelnut of butter

Step-by-step directions

1 Bring the milk to a boil with the sugar and zest of lemon and let infuse off heat and covered

2 Soak the bread covered while making the caramel for the cake mold (sugar, water + 1 hazelnut of butter - optional) and letting the caramel set on the walls of the mold

3 Beat the eggs in an omelet by adding the vanilla sugar or vanilla.

4 Remove the zest from the milk (unless it is extremely fine and chopped) and pass it with the bread through a food mill with fine grid (I use my food processor)

5 Cool the sweetened milk + bread with a glass of cold milk, add the beaten eggs and mix well to distribute the bread evenly by pouring into the mold

6 Cook in a water bath for about 1 hour (usual cooking test).

7 Refrigerate overnight and unmold