Torta Pasqualina Easter Pie,a fusion version

I would not have known that such a delicious dish existed  ,if I had missed Lisa Watson’s wonderful post on twitter about the Easter Recipes.She is a gem of a writer and a chef ,you can read about the history of this wonderful dish ,in her blog.Easter Sunday is celebrated throughout the world to  commemorate Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection from death after his Crucifixion by the Romans.In India Easter is celebrated by the Christian in various parts of the country,and there is a traditional feast consisting of local festive dishes and eggs .Eggs definitely form the center of all Easter celebrations.

Torta Pasqualina is  an Italian pie ,traditionally filled with Swiss chard and ricotta but I think a lot of variations can be prepared by substituting local veggies.”Torta” word   refers to a sandwich  made with crusty bread roll served hot or cold. The specialty of this pie is that when you cut this pie you can see the egg  beautifully cooked inside the pie.The My improvisation to this dish however , was to replace the ricotta with our local cottage cheese as it is difficult to procure here and adding some Indian spices for the sharpness,as we love spicy food.I made separate layers of spinach and cottage cheese as I referred to Lisa’s recipe ,but I think mixing of spinach and cottage cheese too will give a pretty and delicious filling like our traditional Indian “palak paneer” which is close to the heart of all Indians.I will like to try that version in future.

Ingredients

puff pastry dough

• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• salt to taste

Filling

• 2 cups of  spinach
• 1 cup of  cottage cheese
• 1 cup of grated cheddar and mozzarella or processed pizza cheese
• 1 tsp roasted carom seeds
• 1/2 cup onions chopped
• 2 to 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp chilly flakes
• 2 chopped green chilies
• 1 tbsp Mixed Italian herbs(dried oregano,rosemary,basil)
• 1 tsp Black pepper coarsely ground
• eggs 6
• butter 1/4 cup melted for brushing

Preparation

Filling (Layer 1)

• Boil the spinach with little salt
• Add 1/2 tsp  of oil in the pan and fry onions and garlic.
• Add the spices (carom seeds,chilly flakes,green chilies,Italian herbs )followed by spinach and saute.
• Cook till the water dries.
• take off from the pan and chop the spinach very fine.

Filling (Layer 2)

• blend the cottage cheese with little salt
• Add 1 egg and mix
• Add black pepper powder

Dough

• Mix water,salt and oil together.
• Add this mixture to the flour in batches while mixing with fingers till it forms a soft mixture.
• knead this dough well and keep it covered.

Pastry

• Roll out layers from the dough
• Make 4 medium sized balls of dough ,for 4 pastry sheets,two at the bottom,two for the top.
• I still had some dough remaining.You can add more sheets if you want.
• grease a spring-form cake pan
• roll a ball of dough with the rolling pin as thin as possible.Lay it carefully over the pan.
• brush with butter and add another layer.
• fill with the spinach mixture.
• add the cottage cheese mixture.
• Make 5 small depressions with your finger .
• Separate the egg yolk from the 5 eggs.
• Add these egg yolks one by one into these depressions
• pour over the egg white.
• Sprinkle some salt.
• cover with grated cheese.
• cover the pie with more 2 to 3 layers of pastry sheet.
• Brush the top with butter.
• I decorated with some flour roses.
• bake for 40 minutes,till the top is brown.

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Torta Pasqualina Easter Pie,a fusion version

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 6 persons

Author indrani

Ingredients

ngredients

• puff pastry dough
• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• salt to taste

Filling

• 2 cups of  spinach
• 1 cup of  cottage cheese
• 1 cup of grated cheddar and mozzarella or processed pizza cheese
• 1 tsp roasted carom seeds
• 1/2 cup onions chopped
• 2 to 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp chilly flakes
• 2 chopped green chilies
• 1 tbsp Mixed Italian herbs (dried oregano,rosemary,basil)
• 1 tsp Black pepper coarsely ground
• eggs 6
• butter 1/4 cup melted for brushing

Instructions

Preparation

filling (Layer 1)

1. Boil the spinach with little salt
2. Add 1/2 tsp  of oil in the pan and fry onions and garlic.
3. Add the spices (carom seeds,chilly flakes,green chilies,Italian herbs )followed by spinach and saute.
4. Cook till the water dries.
5. take off from the pan and chop the spinach very fine.

Spinach filling

1. filling (Layer 2)
2. blend the cottage cheese with little salt
3. Add 1 egg and mix
4. Add black pepper powder

dough

1. Mix water,salt and oil together.
2. Add this mixture to the flour in batches while mixing with fingers till it forms a soft mixture.
3. knead this dough well and keep it covered.

Pastry

1. Roll out layers from the dough
2. Make 4 medium sized balls of dough ,for 4 pastry sheets,two at the bottom,two for the top.
3. I still had some dough remaining.You can add more sheets if you want.
4. grease a spring-form cake pan
5. roll a ball of dough with the rolling pin as thin as possible.Lay it carefully over the pan.
6. brush with butter and add another layer.
7. fill with the spinach mixture.
8. add the cottage cheese mixture.
9. Make 5 small depressions with your finger .
10. Separate the egg yolk from the 5 eggs.
11. Add these egg yolks one by one into these depressions
12. pour over the egg white.
13. Sprinkle some salt.
14. cover with grated cheese.
15. cover the pie with more 2 to 3 layers of pastry sheet.
16. Brush the top with butter.
17. I decorated with some flour roses.
18. bake for 40 minutes,till the top is brown.

Other versions from the Web

•  Easter cake 
• Torta pasqualina
• Italian food forever