Genoese Easter Torte

La storia di questo piatto

Born in the narrow caruggi of Genoa, where the sea wind carries the scent of wild herbs down from the Ligurian hillsides, the Torta Pasqualina is a devotional act disguised as food — a Easter offering woven from thirty-three paper-thin veils of dough, one for each year of Christ's life, cradling the green soul of the countryside and the golden mystery of whole eggs nested like sacred gifts inside.

Ingredienti

• 400 g All-purpose flour
• 200 ml Lukewarm water
• 5 g Fine sea salt
• 60 ml Extra virgin olive oil
• 500 g Fresh borage
• 30 g Fresh parsley
• 400 g Fresh ricotta
• 4 piece Whole eggs
• 100 g Grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1 to taste Salt and pepper
• 30 ml Oil for greasing

Preparazione

1. Prepare the dough: pour the flour onto your work surface and create a well in the center (a crater with walls of flour all around it). Pour the warm water into this well, then add the salt and oil. Using a fork, begin stirring the water gently, gradually pulling flour from the inner walls of the well toward the center. When the mixture becomes too thick for the fork to work effectively, switch to using your hands. Knead vigorously for at least 10 minutes: press the dough down with the heel of your palm, fold it over itself, rotate it a quarter turn, and repeat this motion continuously. You'll know it's ready when your senses tell you so: the dough becomes smooth and glossy to the touch, it bounces back when you press it with your finger, and it no longer sticks to your fingers. If it's still sticky and clinging, sprinkle just a pinch more flour and continue; if it feels dry and crumbly, add a tiny drop of water and keep working until you reach that perfect state.
2. Shape the dough into a smooth, round ball. Coat it lightly with oil all over (this prevents it from drying out and forming a crust on the surface) and wrap it tightly in plastic film. Let it rest at room temperature on your kitchen counter for at least 1 hour. The dough will roughly double in volume: you'll see it become noticeably puffed up and soft to the touch, and it will be much easier to stretch and shape when you come back to it.
3. Clean the borage by removing the thickest, toughest stems and rinse the leaves thoroughly under cold running water. Fill a large pot with salted water and turn the heat to maximum: you'll notice small bubbles rising rapidly toward the surface and feel the steam rising up. Plunge the borage into the boiling water for 5 minutes: the leaves will transform in color from pale green to a deep, rich green, and the remaining stems will become tender when you press them with your finger. Drain it in a colander and allow it to cool for 1 to 2 minutes until you can handle it comfortably with your bare hands. Using your hands, squeeze the borage firmly and repeatedly over the colander to remove every bit of excess water—this step is crucial, otherwise your filling becomes too wet and your finished torta won't be crispy. Chop it finely together with the parsley using a knife on your cutting board, working it down until it becomes almost a uniform green paste.
4. In a bowl combine the ricotta, the finely chopped borage and parsley mixture, the grated pecorino cheese, a small pinch of salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Mix well with a spoon until all the ingredients are distributed evenly throughout: you should no longer see any white streaks of ricotta remaining. The filling should have a uniform green color all the way through and a creamy, homogeneous consistency.
5. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions (if you have a kitchen scale use it for precision, otherwise estimate by eye so that they all look roughly the same size). On an oiled work surface, take one portion and begin stretching it gently using your fingertips and the palms of your hands, working from the center outward toward the edges, slowly rotating the sheet of dough as you stretch. Work with a light touch: if you feel the dough pulling back and resisting your stretch, pause for 1 minute and then resume. Your goal is a rectangle so thin that you can see light passing through it (almost translucent, like parchment paper), just a few millimeters thick. Don't worry if small tears form as you work: they're completely normal and won't affect the final result.
6. Take a rectangular baking pan (approximately 30x40 cm) and coat it lightly with oil using your fingertips or a pastry brush. Lay the first stretched sheet of dough on the bottom of the pan, smoothing it out so it adheres well to the surface. Brush it lightly with oil using a brush or your fingertips. Add the second sheet on top and oil it as well. Repeat with the third and fourth sheets. You should notice a slight transparency where the oiled layers overlap one another, and you'll hear a delicate rustling sound when you touch the pan. By the end you'll have 4 layers stacked on top of one another, each one well oiled and light as air.
7. Distribute the ricotta and herb filling over your base of dough sheets using a spoon, spreading it out evenly across the surface while leaving approximately 2 cm of empty space around all the edges (this border is essential for sealing properly after). Using the back of your spoon, create 4 small indentations (like tiny craters) spaced out across the pan. Gently nestle one whole raw egg into each of these depressions. The egg yolks will cook partially during baking and will remain slightly creamy and runny in their centers.
8. Take the 4 remaining sheets of dough and stack them one on top of the other, lightly oiling each sheet as you layer them together, using exactly the same technique you used for the base. Flip this stack of 4 oiled sheets over onto the filling and eggs in the pan, covering everything completely. Seal the edges thoroughly by folding them inward toward the sides of the pan: press firmly with your fingers to make them stick well to the base layer and to seal the top edge to the bottom edge, ensuring that the filling and eggs stay contained inside during cooking and don't escape.
9. Preheat your oven to 180°C and let it heat for 10 to 15 minutes: the oven must be thoroughly hot before you slide the torta inside. Place the pan in the center of the oven. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Peek through the oven window periodically (without opening the door unless absolutely necessary): the surface should turn golden brown, almost crispy, with some darker spots and slightly charred edges—this is exactly what you're looking for and indicates it's perfectly crunchy. Inside, the torta stays soft and tender, and the egg yolks cook just enough to set slightly while remaining creamy and rich in the very center.
10. Remove the pan from the oven with care: it's extremely hot, so use an oven mitt. Let it rest for 5 minutes outside the oven before cutting: this allows the layers to compact together slightly and the eggs to stabilize without becoming completely hard and cooked through. Slice into generous portions using a sharp knife: you'll see the 4 layers of crispy, golden pastry alternating with the creamy green herb filling and the soft, runny egg yolk in the center of each piece. Serve it warm or at room temperature.