Genoese rice cake

We prepare the Genoese rice cake with the original recipe, with a shell of matta pasta and a filling of rice, eggs and prescinseua cheese.

You can't go wrong with the original Ligurian recipe for Genoese rice cake. It is a delicious typical product with an inviting flavour, perfect to be enjoyed cold or warm, at the seaside or in the office. The outside is made of a crunchy pastry which, if you have little time available, you can also replace with a ready-made puff pastry or shortcrust pastry.

The filling is obtained by cooking the rice in milk and adding eggs, nutmeg and prescinseua cheese, just as tradition dictates. We will also leave you our suggestions if, as is easy, you cannot find it ready-made anywhere.

Preparation of the Genoese rice cake

1. Start by preparing the pasta matta , prepared in the Genoese way without wine. Sift and arrange the flour on a pastry board. Add the salt and oil to the dimple created in the center.
2. Pour in the warm water little by little , kneading with your hands as you go.
3. Work until you obtain a homogeneous and elastic dough. Wrap it in cling film and let it rest for 30 minutes (or maximum 1 hour) in the fridge .
4. In the meantime, pour the milk into a saucepan and bring it to the boil. Then lower the heat and add the rice, cooking for 15 minutes . It should be al dente and a little liquid.
5. Once done, turn off the heat and let it cool before adding the eggs, parmesan, nutmeg and prescinseua . If you can't find it, use half ricotta and half plain yogurt with no added sugar mixed together first. Season with salt and mix to combine everything .
6. At this point, take the block of dough from the fridge and roll it out with a rolling pin on a floured work surface.
7. Grease a circular mold (with a diameter of approximately 22 cm) with a handkerchief soaked in oil and line the inside with the puff pastry sheet.
8. Fill with the rice mixture and fold the excess edges of the pastry inwards.
9. Bake in a static oven preheated to 180°C for 40 minutes until the surface is golden. Once cooked, remove from the mold and leave to cool.

Some people usually add a few leaves of fresh or dried marjoram to the filling. This aromatic herb is widely used in Liguria and gives dishes a truly particular flavour. Then there is the rice cake with chard , a variant of the recipe just proposed which is obtained by adding 350 g of cleaned chard , cut into strips and cooked in a pan with oil and sliced ​​onion, to the filling.

Conservation

This particular rice cake is a classic dish of Genoese cuisine that conquers everyone at the first bite with its softness. You can keep it for 2-3 days in the fridge .

History of the Genoese rice cake

It is completely natural to ask what rice has to do with Genoese cuisine . Well this cereal entered the kitchens of the region when Genoa was an important commercial port. Arriving from the East, rice soon became a precious commodity of exchange, effectively becoming part of the tradition of the area.

Not to be overlooked is the fact that many Ligurian women used to cross the mountains and go to the nearby plain to work as weeders . In addition to the classic salary, part of the salary was paid in rice which was then taken home and cooked with other ingredients present in the area.

The first written trace of the Genoese rice cake dates back to 1865 and is contained in Emanuele Rossi's Genoese cookbook . In this recipe the rice was sautéed in a pan with oil and onion. As time passed and the dish spread, each family began to make changes to it so that today, as always happens when it comes to tradition, it is difficult to identify the original recipe.

In all cases, the savory rice cake is part of the so-called gattafure , a term born from the French gateau fourré , meaning stuffed cake. In fact, the base was more or less always the same, a simple pasta made with flour, water, oil and salt, while the filling varied from time to time , also based on the season.

The more attentive will have noticed that the Genoese rice cake is, like other savory cakes in the region, vegetarian . In fact, these dishes arise from the need to find "lean" alternatives to consume instead of fish during fasting times. This is also the case with the chard pie and the onion pie, usually sold in slices in the sciamadde , the typical bakeries and fryers of the provinces of Genoa and Savona.

Read also

The best recipes and typical dishes from Liguria (and Sanremo).