Torta Pasqualina, the Easter cake dedicated to Jesus ;)

Easter is coming. It means that it is the time to prepare Torta Pasqualina … the most typical dish that you can eat for Easter Dinner in Liguria. It is a salted cake that is prepared here for ages! Let’s know it better!

Ingredients:

 For 2 puff pastry

450 g of flour

80 g of butter

350 ml of water

salt

For stuffing:

500 g of spinach or chard

250 g of ricotta

1 clove of garlic

4 eggs

200 g of Parmigiano Reggiano

Oil Extra Virgin

marjoram

pepper

salt

Preparation

The first thing you have to do is to prepare a puff pastry. You have to mix together flour, water and butter. When a dough is uninformed you divide it into the two parts and put it aside.

Then you prepare a stuffing. First, you boil spinach. When they are ready you drain them. Then in another pan sweat chopped garlic with the drained spinach, Oil Extra Virgin, salt and pepper. Cook them all for 3 minutes. Then pour stuffing into a bowl. Add ricotta, Parmigiano Reggiano, marjoram, salt, pepper and mix them together.

Then roll out the puff pastry that you have prepared before. Prepare a baking tray and put the rolled puff pastry inside. After that lay whole stuffing on the puff pastry and level it. When the stuffing is uniform create the small pits and break the eggs into them (Issam, the chef, used 4 eggs ;)). Then roll out another puff pastry and extend it on the stuffing with the eggs.

Now Torta Pasqualina is ready to be cooked. Prepared an oven at 180°C and cook for 1 hour.

When you smell a nice smell the cake is ready 😉

Curiosity

• Torta Pasqualina was known even in the XV century and also at that time was consumed during Easter.
• This cake is typical for Genoa and its hinterland. However, it became so popular that you can find it in other regions of Italy.
• It is said that in the past the Ligurian housewives prepared Torta Pasqualina with 33 thin layers of puff pastry (!). Because 33 was the number that corresponded with the age of Jesus.

Buon Appetito!