CHIAVARI, Italy – In Italy, torta
Pasqualina is to Easter what turkey stuffing is to Thanksgiving in the U.S.A.
It just wouldn’t be the same without it. This savory torta, which is very
similar to the far more popular French dish – quiche, originated in Genova
during the 1600’s.
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| Torta Pasqualina |
It is a dish that in the past was
served exclusively in the spring – at Easter to be more precise - which is how
it got it’s name – Pasqua, which means Easter in Italian. And it is also why
the traditional Pasqualina recipe called for 33 layers of puff pastry, one for
each year of Christ’s life.
One of the differences between quiche
and torta Pasqualina is that the ingredients of our torta are not mixed
together and cooked in an egg and milk custard as they are in a quiche, but
layered, starting with Swiss chard. Next comes a layer of prescineua, a fresh,
light cheese that is similar to cream cheese. Prescineau, which I’m still
trying to figure out how to pronounce, is a Ligurian specialty cheese and not
found outside of the region so ricotta is often used as a substitute.
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| Layers of Deliciousness |
As for the 33 layers of pastry, no one
really does that any more. One more modern recipes I found called for 10
layers of pastry, five on the bottom and five on the top, but most of the
recipes seemed to make do with four, even when using frozen grocery store puff
pastry. The recipe below calls for two layers of puff pastry, one for the
bottom and one for the top, but if you choose to go the traditional route and
use more than one, be sure to brush a little olive oil between each layer so
they stay flakey and don’t stick together.
But the most distinctive difference
between torta pasqualina and quiche is the addition of whole raw egg yolks to
top the final layer. In the traditional torta recipe, the one with 33 layers of
pastry, it calls for 13 yolks to be placed on the top of the torta, twelve
yolks around the edges and one yolk in the center, representing Christ and His
12 apostles.
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| The Final Touch |
But whether you use 13 or 4 as called
for in the recipe below, the raw yolks are placed in a hollow made in the
cheese layer with the back of a tablespoon. The whites are then lightly beaten
and a few spoonfuls of the frothy whites are spooned over the top before adding
the final layer of pastry.
Torta Pasqualina
Serves 6-8 (as an appetizer)
500
grams of frozen puff pastry
1 kg of Swiss chard
½ medium onion finely chopped
500 gr. of whole milk ricotta
250 gr. light cream
500 gr. of whole milk ricotta
250 gr. light cream
8 eggs
50 gr. butter
125 gr. grated Parmesan cheese
125 gr. grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of chopped, fresh marjoram
Salt and pepper
Thaw the puff pastry at room
temperature (about 2 hours)
Sauté the chopped onion in a little
butter and olive oil until it is translucent. Blanche the Swiss chard in boiling
water for 3 or 4 minutes, drain, squeeze dry, rough chop and add to the sautéed
onions and cook together to blend the flavors. Then add a pinch of salt, pepper
and the marjoram to the Swiss chard and onions, mix and set aside to cool.
In the meantime, as the Swiss chard is
cooling, combine the ricotta with the Parmesan cheese, light cream and 2
lightly beaten eggs. Set aside.
Roll out one portion of puff pastry and
place it in the lightly greased baking pan, with a couple of inches of overlap,
which will be used to seal the top. When the Swiss chard is room
temperature, mix in 2 lightly beaten whole eggs and sprinkle with a few spoons
of grated parmesan cheese and spread the mixture on the bottom of the baking
pan.
Top the Swiss chard with an even layer
of ricotta. With the back of a tablespoon, make 4 evenly spaced indentation on
the top of the cheese layer. Separate the first raw egg and place the yolk in
the indentation. Fill the remaining indentations the same way, using the last 3
eggs.
Lightly beat the egg whites and
carefully spoon some of the frothy egg white mixture over the cheese and egg
yolk layer. Cover with the remaining sheet (or sheets) of puff pastry and
carefully seal the edges. Brush the top with a bit of milk, and prick with a
fork or a small sharp knife, to allow the steam to escape.
Bake in a pre-heated oven – 186 degrees
C (360 degrees F) for 40 minutes, or until golden brown. If the instructions on
the package of frozen puff pastry call for a higher temperature, I would
suggest following those directions, just check the torta often to make sure it
cooking and browning and not burning.
Serve warm or room temperature.
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| Perfect for a Picnic |
Afterthoughts.
If you are not familiar with Swiss
chard, it’s a dark green leafy vegetable that looks a lot like spinach, but
tastes a little sweeter. In other parts of the world Swiss chard stems come in
different colors, but here in Italy they are always white. Like spinach, Swiss
chard needs to be carefully washed and the stems trimmed.
There is nothing that says you can’t
mix the Swiss chard and ricotta together and eliminate the layers, and in fact
many recipes call for you to do just that. You might be tempted to eliminate
the egg yolks on the top layer as well, but I wouldn’t recommend it. They
really do add an extra dimension to the dish.
About puff pastry. Here in Italy puff
pastry is sold two to a package, so I usually buy two packages for this recipe
because I prefer four thin layers of dough. It’s not a bad idea to
lightly grease your baking pan with olive oil, or line it with parchment paper,
and if you use a spring form baking pan it will be easier to remove the torta
for serving.
Torta pasqualina can be served warm or
cold and it’s a ‘must’ for the Easter table as it is perfect to take along for
the traditional Pasquetta ‘picnic fuori casa’, picnic in the
country – or at least out in the open - on Easter Monday, which is also a
national holiday here in Italy. Happy Easter.
