Italian · Liguria · appetizer

Torta Pasqualina

Torta Pasqualina reads umami 5.8, salinity 5.5 and richness 5.0 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Italian · Liguria appetizer, about 3 hr 20 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 6.6 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 2.5 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 1.1 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 2.3 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 5.6 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 3.6 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 5.8 · Salinity 5.5 · Richness 5.0 · Allium 3.1 · Herbaceous 2.7 · Funk & Ferment 2.4 · Sweetness 2.3 · Nutty 2.1 · Bitterness 2.1 · Earthy 1.9 · Floral 1.6 · Warm Spice 1.4 · Citrus 0.8 · Sourness 0.8 · Fruity 0.5 · Heat 0.5

What's in it (13)

• all-purpose flour — 400 g
• water — 180 g
• extra virgin olive oil — 92 g
• salt — 8 g
• swiss chard — 1200 g
• onion — 120 g
• fresh ricotta — 250 g
• parmesan cheese — 80 g
• eggs — 100 g
• eggs — 300 g
• marjoram leaves — 5 g
• salt — 5 g
• freshly ground black pepper — 3 g

Time & effort: about 3 hr 20 min (1 hr 40 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 111.1 kcal, 5.8 g protein, 3.5 g fat, 14.5 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

1. Make the dough: work the flour, the 8 g salt, 3 tbsp of the olive oil and the warm water into a soft, smooth dough, kneading 10 minutes until it is silky and stretches without tearing. Divide it into 10 equal balls, oil them, cover and rest 1 hour. Traditionally there are 33 sheets, one for each year of Christ's life; ten is what a domestic cook can actually roll.
2. Wilt the chard leaves in a covered pan with only their washing water for 5 minutes, drain, cool and squeeze bone dry, then chop. Sweat the onion in 2 tbsp of the oil for 10 minutes until soft and sweet.
3. Mix the chard and onion with the prescinseua, the Parmigiano, the 2 beaten eggs, the marjoram, the 1 tsp salt and the pepper. Prescinseua is the slightly sour Ligurian curd that Genoese cooks use in everything; look for it in Italian delis or use ricotta hung overnight in muslin with 1 tbsp of yoghurt stirred through, which gets you closer than plain ricotta does.
4. Heat the oven to 190 C. Roll 5 of the dough balls out one at a time, as thin as you dare, and drape them one over another in an oiled 26 cm springform tin, brushing each sheet with olive oil before the next goes on. The oil between sheets is what makes the crust shatter into leaves.
5. Spread the filling over the base and level it. With the back of a spoon, press 6 evenly spaced hollows into the filling and crack a whole egg into each. Season the eggs with a pinch of salt.
6. Roll and layer the remaining 5 sheets on top the same way, oiling between each. Seal and roll the edges inwards, brush the top with oil and prick only the top sheet in a few places, taking care not to reach the eggs.
7. Bake 50 to 55 minutes, until the top is deep gold and crisp and the tin feels light and set when tapped. Cool at least 40 minutes: the yolks must firm up, and this is eaten warm or cold, on Easter Monday picnics, never hot. Each slice should show a yolk in cross-section.
8. Substitutions: fresh ricotta drained overnight can stand in for the prescinseua.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Escarole Soup With Chicken And Rice — Greek
• Chicken Sorrentino — Italian-American
• Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo — Italian-American
• Mushroom and Spinach Manicotti — Italian-American
• Chicken Parmesan Meatball Subs — Italian-American

Keep reading: what umami, salinity, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.