TORTA PASQUALINA
Essteele Italian-made cookware is bringing you four recipes for the perfect Italian Easter feast.
In this instalment, we make a Torta Pasqualina from Silvia Colloca's Easter Family Lunch. Perfect as a light starter or hearty brunch, Silvia advises to bake this cheese and silverbeet savoury pie until golden and crisp.
Serve with a crisp, dry white wine such as Trebbiano d'Abruzzo.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, bruised
- 2 bunches silverbeet, thick white stalks discarded, leaves finely chopped
- 400g ricotta, drained
- 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 cup (50g) grated parmesan
- 1/2 cup (50g) grated pecorino
- 7 eggs
- 375g frozen puff pastry, thawed
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease a 26cm springform cake pan.
- Heat oil in a large frypan with a lid over high heat. Cook garlic for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add silverbeet and cover with the lid. Cook for 3-4 minutes until wilted. Season with salt and set aside to cool. Remove garlic and discard. Drain silverbeet in a colander, pressing down to remove excess liquid.
- Combine the silverbeet, ricotta, nutmeg, lemon zest, cheeses and 2 eggs in a large bowl, season and set aside.
- Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until 5mm thick, then line the base and 4cm up the side of the pan to form a rim. Cut the remaining pastry into four 26cm-long strips. Spoon ricotta mixture into base, smoothing the surface with a spoon. Make four evenly spaced indents in the filling, then crack an egg into each.
- Arrange 4 pastry strips in a crisscross pattern over the filling to create 8 wedges. Lightly beat the remaining egg and brush over pastry. Transfer to a baking tray and bake for 40-45 minutes until golden and crisp.