Torta Pasqualina (Easter Savoury Cake)

Tantangan KBB #28 (Maret – April 2012) - Torta Pasqualina (Easter Savoury Cake)
Torta Pasqualina literally means 'Easter cake' in Italian. It's atypical Easter dish from Piemonte and Liguria. The dough is a layered dough, a bit like 'fillo dough', but thicker.It's called 'pasta matta' (i.e. crazy dough) As this dish comes from Liguria it contains a local cheese called Prescinseua which can onlybe found in Liguria. It is very creamy, soft and slightly acidulated.It’s unlikely you will find Prescinseau so a very soft ricotta can ora regular ricotta with the addition of a little milk will do.

 I´m not quite satisfied with the result :( my dough isn´t thin enough. I use one recipe for the dough and 1/2 recipe for filling, that´s why...my dough is too hard !!



Torta Pasqualina
Source: Old Time Cooking Recipes
Ingredients:
DOUGH:
600 g (1 lb 5 oz) white flour
6 Tbs olive oil
a pinch of salt
FILLING:
1 kg (2 lb) Swiss chard (silver beet) or spinach
400 g (0.9 lb) cottage cheese/ricotta cheese
100 g (3.5 oz) parmesan
10 eggs
2 teaspoons marjoram, chopped
2 teaspoons parsley, chopped
garlic, minced (optional)
olive oil
salt, pepper

Preparation:
1. DOUGH:
-Combine flour, oil, a pinch of salt and enough cold water ( me: about 250 ml water) to make a medium soft dough.
-Knead well for 10 minutes or until the dough becomes elastic.
-Divide the dough into 14 balls.
-Cover with cloth and let stand for about 1 hour.2. 

2. FILLING:
-Clean, wash and dry the Swiss chard.
-Place in a saucepan with little boiling water and cook at high heatuntil wilted.
-Cool, then squeeze out excess liquid and chop finely.
-Add 50 g (1.7 oz) parmesan cheese, marjoram, parsley, garlic and 2 eggs. 
Season with salt and pepper.

3. Oil a round shallow oven dish, 9 inches (22 cm) in diameter.
4. Flatten each piece of dough, one at a time, making each a very thindisk, larger than the baking pan you are going to use.
5. Lay the pastry on the oven dish, allowing it to flow over the edges. Oil it lightly.
6. Place another disk over it and repeat until you have used 7 disks.
7. Spread the Swiss chard stuffing over the dough, and then spread thecottage cheese over the greens level with a knife.
8. Make 8 small cavities. Pour a raw egg into each cavity and sprinkleeach with salt, pepper and remaining parmesan cheese.
9. Cover the whole lot with the same number of pastry sheets, each rushed with oil.
10. Pinch the borders and trim the excess dough, prick the top of thepie in a few places and then brush with oil.
11. Bake for 1 hour in 190 C (375 F) oven. Allow to rest beforeremoving from the cake tin

Homemada Ricotta: 
Thank´s to Arfi Binsted for sharing the recipe

800 ml milk, 1 lemon /juice of 1 lemon or lime), 1 tsp salt, 150 g yogurt. Mix all ingredient then cook and stir continuosly with medium heat. Sift with cheese cloth.