Torta Pasqualina, a delicious spinach and egg pie traditionally eaten on Easter Sunday in Italy. Traditionally served cold, this pie will keep well in the fridge, but is at its best when served straight after it has cooled, perhaps with a nice glass of white wine.
INGREDIENTS:
(For the Dough)
500 gr all-purpose Flour
200 ml water (room temperature)
100 ml olive oil
1 egg
1 pinch of salt
For the filling:
500 gr cooked spinach
1 large onion
1 clove of garlic
300 gr Ricotta Cheese
100 gr grated Parmesan cheese
6 eggs
1 tbsp of fresh marjoram or oregano
Nutmeg, Salt and Pepper to taste
Method:
In a bowl put the flour, salt, oil and egg. Add the water to form a dough. Knead until smooth. Divide the dough into 8 equal parts and form buns. Let rest covered for at least 1 hour.
Finely chop the onion and fry it in a pan with some olive oil until it is soft but not brown. Remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan fry the chopped garlic clove with some more olive oil. Add the spinach and cook until they are wilted. Remove from the heat and allow the spinach to cool and drain completely. When the spinach is cool, chop it into small pieces. In a bowl, mix the cooked onion and the grated Parmesan cheese with the Ricotta. Add the spinach and season with salt, pepper and chopped oregano leaves. Add 1 egg and mix to combine. Refrigerate until you are ready to fill the pie.
Roll out the buns separately, leaving them very thin. Spread a sheet of dough with oil or melted butter with a brush, then sprinkle with flour and stack on this 3 more sheets following the same process to obtain a 4-layer dough. Roll out the dough into a round shape and line a 24-centimeter-diameter mold with it. Pour in the spinach mixture and carefully make five large holes in the spinach mixture with a spoon, big enough to take an entire egg each. Then break 1 egg into each of the holes.
Cover with the other 4 layer pastry sheet, trim the excess and using your thumb and finger or a fork, crimp the edges to seal. Using a sharp knife, make a small hole in the centre of the pie and you can improvise a chimney to let the vapors out while baking.
Brush the top with olive oil or a bitten egg and bake the pie in a preheated oven to 180°C/gas mark 4 for 1 hour. Allow the pie to cool completely before serving it. Enjoy!