Torta Pasqualina: the original recipe of the Ligurian savory pie

Torta Pasqualina is a typical recipe from Liguria: a rustic cake that is stuffed with chard, eggs and ricotta. Let's see together how to prepare it!

Today we prepare a fantastic recipe which is traditionally eaten during the Easter period, but which is also good throughout the rest of the year: the Pasqualina cake. The original Ligurian recipe calls for a shell of pasta to be filled with whole eggs (which become hard-boiled when cooked), chard and cheese; everything is then enriched with aromatic herbs.

This delicious filling is enclosed between two sheets of crunchy pastry , which can be puff pastry, shortcrust pastry or a sort of light oil shortcrust pastry. In short, every family has its own recipe, but each version is delicious in its own way! A curiosity: tradition has it that the pastry has 33 folds , like the years of Christ.

If you are looking for a wonderful savory pie, the Pasqualina is the one for you. Let's see together how to prepare it in the traditional way!

Preparation of the Easter cake

1. First wash and dry the beets, then cut them into strips (removing the stems).
2. Peel two cloves of garlic, remove the inner core and then brown them in a pan with a few drizzles of oil. Pour the squeezed beets into the pan and sauté them for a minute, so that they take on the flavor of the garlic and oil.
3. Leave to cool , remove the garlic and stir in the fresh ricotta, two good handfuls of grated Parmesan, 1 egg and a grating of nutmeg (if you like). Complete the mixture by adding a little white or black pepper and chopped marjoram.
4. Roll out a layer of shortcrust pastry or puff pastry in a cake pan lined with parchment paper. The edges of the dough must come out, in order to be able to close them again. Arrange all the stuffing.
5. Make four hollows in the filling with a spoon and break the four remaining eggs directly on the "bed" of chard and lightly salt each of them. The eggs must be very fresh , so that the yolk remains firm (also be careful not to break the yolk, which must remain intact).
6. Gently cover with the other layer of puff pastry or brisè and then close the cake.
7. Grease the surface of the cake with oil and then bake at 180°C for about 40-50 minutes .

We advise you to put it on the table together with your Easter appetizers : it will be greatly appreciated !

Easter cake dough: the recipe to make it at home from scratch

If you want to learn how to make the Torta Pasqualina with chard from scratch, you must definitely omit the ready-made rolls of dough. The pastry bought at the supermarket is perfect for a quick Pasqualina but as beautiful and tasty as the original, however we have the solution to make it entirely at home. The dough for this savory pie isn't difficult to make, we'll make two sheets of it that will be the base and two more for the cover .

Ingredients:

• 350 g of flour
• 20ml of oil
• 180ml of water
• 1 pinch of salt

1. Put the flour in a bowl or in a planetary mixer and start kneading (if with the planetary mixer with the special hook and at moderate speed).
2. Then slowly add the water , oil and a pinch of salt and continue to knead until the mixture is well blended.
3. At this point, transfer the dough onto a floured work surface and continue to knead until it is smooth.
4. Divide the dough into 4 balls : two slightly larger and two smaller ones (which will be used to cover and close the cake once rolled out).
5. The dough is done. Once the chard and ricotta filling has been created, you will only have to roll out the two larger loaves with a rolling pin and on a floured surface (try to make them very thin while maintaining the rounded shape).
6. Put them one at a time in a buttered and floured pan, proceed with the filling, then roll out the other two balls and proceed one at a time also in this case. In theory, the base dough should be in excess, don't cut it but fold it over the cake to seal it well.

Read also

Torta Pasqualina with artichokes: a delicious variation of the typical Easter dish in Liguria

Conservation and variations of the Easter cake

Store for about 3 days , well covered, in the refrigerator. If you already know that you won't be able to finish it, cut it into slices and freeze it in convenient single portions.

As an alternative to chard, you can use spinach or artichokes: in fact, some versions of the recipe are stuffed with artichokes, which were once very expensive during the Easter period and could only be bought on very special occasions.

If you want to try a delicious alternative, here is the recipe for casatiello and all our proposals for a wonderful Easter menu .

Riproduzione riservata © - WT