Torta di Erbe con Prescinsôa Ligure

Ingredients

• For the olive oil pastry
• 300 g plain flour
• 80 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 80 ml cold water
• 1 tsp fine salt
• For the filling
• 200 g chard, leaves stripped from stems
• 100 g borage leaves, young leaves only
• 50 g pimpinella (burnet), leaves picked
• 50 g wild leek, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 250 g prescinsôa, or ricotta with 1 tsp lemon juice
• 80 g short-grain rice, cooked until just tender, drained
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 pinch black pepper, freshly ground
• To finish
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing the scored top crust

Method

1. 1
   Combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the olive oil and work it in briefly with the fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the cold water a little at a time and bring the dough together into a smooth, pliable ball — it should not be sticky. Divide into two portions, one slightly larger than the other. Wrap and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. The dough is ready when it offers no resistance when pressed.
2. 2
   Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add all the herbs — chard, borage, pimpinella, wild leek — and blanch for 2 minutes only. Drain immediately and refresh under cold water. Squeeze with both hands until no further water can be extracted; the compressed mass should feel almost dry to the touch. Chop finely.
3. 3
   In a large bowl, combine the chopped blanched herbs, the cooked rice, the prescinsôa, and the beaten eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Mix until homogeneous. The filling should hold its shape briefly when lifted with a spoon before slowly settling — neither liquid nor stiff.
4. 4
   Heat the oven to 200 °C. On a lightly floured surface, roll the larger portion of dough to 2–3 mm thickness — no thicker. This is where the dish lives or dies: Ligurian tradition demands a crust that shatters rather than bends, and excess thickness robs it of that quality. Line a 28–30 cm tart tin, letting the dough overhang the rim. Spoon in the filling and spread evenly.
5. 5
   Roll the second portion of dough to the same 2–3 mm thickness and lay it over the filling. Press the edges together and trim the overhang. Score the surface in a crosshatch or diagonal pattern with a sharp knife, cutting through the top crust only. Brush generously with olive oil so that it pools into the score marks.
6. 6
   Bake on the middle rack at 200 °C for 30 minutes, then transfer to the bottom rack for a final 10 minutes. The tart is done when the top crust is deep golden and the scored lines have crisped into distinct ridges; the underside, checked by lifting one edge with a palette knife, should be firm and coloured rather than pale and soft.
7. 7
   Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature on a wire rack before slicing. The filling sets as it cools and becomes cleanly sliceable; the crust firms further. The tart is ready when a pressed finger meets resistance rather than softness at the centre.