This Easter Egg Pie is my modernized version of Torta Pasqualina, a savory pie traditionally made for the day after Easter, when Italians take a daily trip in the countryside with the excuse of burning out a few calories from the previous day overeating. As you will figure out by reading the recipe, the outdoor activity ends at a picnic table, where the Egg Pie is just one of the many tasty dishes.
Make this quiche as a vegetarian main dish for a spring special occasion, like Easter or a bridal shower, when it will be just perfect.*
Ingredients: Sp V
(serves 8 people)
- 3 sheets of frozen puff pastry *
- 15 oz. of ricotta
- 8 eggs
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 lb. of spinach
- 3 Tbsp. Evoo
- ½ Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 4 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated
- Salt
Warm up the oven at 380 F.
Let the puff pastry sheets thaw at room temperature. Meanwhile, wash the spinach and cook them in a big pot, only with the water that clings to them. Drain them and squeeze out the cooking water.
Peel the garlic clove, remove its green core and cut it into four pieces.
Warm up 2 Tbsp. of Evoo a ½ Tbsp. butter in a frying pant, and sauté the garlic until golden-brown. Remove the garlic, add the spinach and sauté for 5 minutes.
Transfer them into a big mixing bowl, add the ricotta, half of the grated Parmesan cheese, grate some nutmeg, salt pepper and two whole eggs. Stir with a wooden spoon to obtain a homogeneous mixture.
On a floured surface, join together two puff pastry sheets by brushing two of their longest sides with some water, overlapping ½ inch of each sheet, and pressing them together.
Roll out the puff pastry with a rolling pin to obtain an 18-inch round. i.e. big enough to cover the bottom of a round 12-inch spring cake pan, plus its sides and some extra dough for overlapping. Sprinkle the work surface and dough with flour to keep from sticking. Since normally the puff pastry sheets are rectangular, cut the corners with a knife when you start rolling them, so that it’s easier to roll them into a circle.
Grease the spring cake pan with some Evoo, place the rolled out puff pastry in the cake pan, shaping it with your fingers, and then spread the spinach and ricotta mix inside the puff pastry. With the back of a tablespoon, make 6 evenly-spaced depressions around the mix, big enough to contain an egg. Break an egg in each depression and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
Roll the third puff pastry sheet into a 12-inch round. Since this will work as a “lid” for the pie, to make sure that it of the right size I roll a square of puff pastry, place the cake pan on top of it and press lightly. Then I cut the pastry with a knife where the cake pan left a circular impression.
Cover the pie with it, brush its rim with some water, then overlap the bottom puff pastry sheet over it, making it as round as possible with scissors.
Brush the pie surface with a little olive oil and cook for about 40 minutes or until the pie turns into a nice golden-brown color.
* Out of loyalty to my mother-in-law’s recipe, I have to confess that the frozen puff pastry is a shortcut. Here follows the original recipe of Torta Pasqualina, made with the authentic dough.
Even though I find this lengthy procedure a little too masochistic, I must admit that the result is amazing. As you can imagine, the layering produces and incredibly flaky dough.
My mother-in-law told me that her grandmother used to make a tiny hole in each layer of dough, to blow some air with a straw, and trap the air inside by immediately closing the hole with some butter. That must have been something to watch!
I guess they were making the Italian equivalent of phyllo dough, which makes me think how lucky we are nowadays to be spared such hard labor.
Ingredients:
- 8 oz. of ricotta
- 8 eggs
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 lb. of spinach
- 3 Tbsp. Evoo
- ½ Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 4 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated
- Salt
For the dough:
- 5 cups of all-purpose white flour
- ½ cup. olive oil
- 1 tsp. salt
- water q.b.
On a flat surface, make a mound with the flour and make a hole in its center. Add 4 Tbsp. of olive oil, 1 tsp. salt, and enough water to obtain a hard, but still workable, dough.
Knead energetically the dough for ten minutes or longer, until you see tiny bubbles forming on its surface.
Divide the dough into 14 small balls of equal size. Dust them with flour them and let them rest for two hours, covered with a slightly humid kitchen towel.
Meanwhile, wash the spinach and cook them in a big pot, only with the water that clings to them. Drain them and squeeze out the cooking water.
Peel the garlic clove, remove its green core and cut it into four pieces.
Warm up 2 Tbsp. of Evoo a ½ Tbsp. butter in a frying pant, and sauté the garlic until golden brown. Remove the garlic, add the spinach and sauté for 5 minutes.
Transfer them into a big mixing bowl, add the ricotta, half of the grated Parmesan cheese, grate some nutmeg, salt pepper and two whole eggs. Stir with a wooden spoon to obtain a homogeneous mix.
Warm up the oven at 380 F.
(Here comes the fun…)
On a floured surface, roll out the balls of dough with a rolling pin to obtain fourteen very thin 18-inch rounds, i.e. big enough to cover the bottom of a round 12-inch cake pan, plus its sides and some extra dough for overlapping.
Sprinkle the work surface and dough with flour to keep from sticking.
Grease the cake pan with some olive oil, then cover it with the first round of dough, leaving 1 inch to extend beyond the pan rim. Grease the dough with some olive oil, then put another sheet of dough over it. Repeat until you have laid down seven layers of dough.
Spread evenly the spinach and ricotta mix inside these seven layers of dough. With the back of a tablespoon, make 6 evenly spaced depressions around the mix, big enough to contain an egg. Break an egg in each depression and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
Cover with the remaining seven layers of dough, remembering to grease with olive oil between each layer.
Fold in the dough wider than the cake pan, and pinch it with your fingers to close it.
Brush the pie surface with a little olive oil and cook for about 40 minutes or until the pie turns into a nice golden-brown color.