L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2020 LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES Continued from page 28 Salt and pepper Olive oil Optional: A b e a t e n e g g y o l k ( f o r brushing) Directions Wash the greens well and t r i m o f f a n y l a r g e s t e m s , then parboil them for a few minute, just until they have wilted. Drain, squeeze dry and roughly chop them. Sauté the onion in a skil- let with a generous glug of olive oil until it is soft and t r a n s l u c e n t . A d d t h e chopped greens and let them wilt, mixing all the time so they become impregnated with the flavor of the soffrit- to. Strip the leaves off the sprig of marjoram and add them to the greens, along with the nutmeg, clove, salt and pepper. Let the mixture simmer gently for a minute or two so the flavors meld. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool completely. Mix the ricotta and Greek yogurt in a bowl, together w i t h a n e g g , a h e a l t h y pinch of grated Parmesan, salt and pepper. (Some grat- e d n u t m e g o r c l o v e h e r e , too, wouldn't be amiss). Set aside. Lay one sheet of the puff pastry over a well-greased 22cm/9 inch pie plate. (The pastry should hang over the sides of the plate; you may n e e d t o r o l l o u t a s t o r e - bought sheet a bit, as I did). Lay the greens over the bot- tom. Top with half of the remaining grated Parmesan cheese. Then lay on top the ricot- ta and yogurt mixture. Make 3 or 4 slight depressions in the filling with a wooden spoon, then break an egg into each well. Season with salt and pep- per, sprinkle with the rest of the grated Parmesan cheese, then finally drizzle every- thing with some olive oil. Lay over the second sheet of puff pastry. Trim around the edges of the pie plate, l e a v i n g a n o v e r h a n g o f about 2cm or 1/2 inch. Now roll up the extra pas- try onto the pie plate, press- ing the two sheets together as you go, to form a kind of cord. If you like, brush the puff pastry with beaten egg yolk for extra sheen. B a k e t h e p i e i n a p r e - heated oven at 180C/350F for about an hour, or until the top is golden brown. Let the torta pasqualina cool completely before serv- ing. N o t e s o n t o r t a pasqualina If you want to simplify your life even further, do as many people do and just use ricotta rather than the ricot- ta and yogurt. You can, in f a c t , m i x t h e r i c o t t a , P a r m e s a n a n d g r e e n s together into a smooth paste rather than layering it all separately. This provides a m o r e " e v e n " t a s t e , n o t unlike the typical filling for ravioli although the layering method is original to the dish and, to my mind, more interesting. The eggs, too, can be mixed in rather than laid on top—although that sacrifices the visual drama, too. Sometimes an egg is beaten into the ricotta to stiffen it up, even if you're laying on whole eggs after- wards. And if you're not par- tial to leafy greens, you can make torta pasqualina with sautéed artichoke hearts, t h e w a y t h a t a L i g u r i a n office mate of mine tells me his family makes it. Store-bought puff pastry makes a fine crust, in my opinion, and r ender s the dish almost effortless. Last y e a r I m a d e a t o r t a pasqualina with multiple layers of phyllo dough, top and bottom, brushing each layer with olive oil. I liked the result, though not quite as much as this year's puff pastry version. O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , i f you're feeling ambitious and want the full-court-press t r a d i t i o n a l d i s h , y o u c a n make your own dough. It is a simple mixture of flour, salt, water and olive oil, but r e q u i r e s r o l l i n g o u t into paper thin sheets and l a y e r i n g e a c h s h e e t w i t h brushings of olive oil. Torta pasqualina: it's all in the layering! (Copyright: Dreamstime)

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