A traditional Easter pie from Liguria, Italy, that can be traced back to the 1500s and still enjoyed today
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
500g whole milk ricotta
550g chard, spinach, or a mix
160g parmesan, finely grated, or a mix of parmesan and aged pecorino
5 medium eggs
Nutmeg (optional)
Olive oil or melted butter, to brush
1 pack filo pastry (around 270g)
Fine salt
To make
1 If your ricotta is watery, drain it for 30 mins in a sieve set over a bowl.
2 Discard any tough stems from the greens. Rinse and divide across 2 large pans and allow to wilt, stirring occasionally over a medium heat (or blanch in a pot of boiling water for a minute or two, just until wilted), then refresh under cold water. Transfer to a colander and squeeze out as much water as possible, then chop finely.
3 In a bowl, mix the ricotta with the greens, parmesan and 1 egg. Add a few gratings of nutmeg and season with salt to taste.
4 Preheat the oven to 210C/Fan 190C/Gas 6–7 and brush a deep, 23cm springform tin with olive oil or melted butter.
5 Layer sheets of filo over your tin, letting them settle so they cover the base and drape over the sides. Brush each sheet with oil or butter as you layer. Reserve 1 sheet for the top.
6 Spoon the ricotta mixture into the pastry, level out with the back of a spoon, then use the spoon to create 4 small hollows in the filling.
7 Crack the remaining 4 eggs into the holes and season the yolks. Dot a little butter onto each egg. Fold the overhanging pastry over the top and use the remaining sheet, to cover any gaps. Brush oil or butter over the top.
8 Cook for 40 mins until golden on top, then cover with baking paper. Cook for a further 20–30 mins.
Cook’s note: Can be stored in the fridge for 5 days and eaten cold, or gently reheated. Traditionally, families without ovens took their pie to a local bakery to be cooked, carving their initials into the crust so that the right pie came home for Easter Sunday
Taken from: Stagioni: Contemporary Italian Cooking to Celebrate the Seasons by Olivia Cavalli (Pavilion, HarperCollins Publishers). Photography: Sophie Davidson
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