Torta Pasqualina

Ingredients

• For the pastry
• 500 g plain flour
• 250 ml water, lukewarm
• 60 ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing between layers
• 1 tsp fine salt
• For the filling
• 1 kg chard, leaves stripped from stems, blanched and thoroughly squeezed dry
• 400 g prescinseua, Ligurian fresh curd; or ricotta mixed with 1 tsp plain yoghurt
• 80 g Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated
• 1 tbsp fresh marjoram leaves, do not substitute with oregano
• 6 eggs, 4 beaten into the filling; 2 (or more, to taste) cracked whole into wells
• 1 tsp fine salt, to season filling
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. 1
   Combine the flour, salt, water, and olive oil in a bowl. Work to a smooth, pliable dough — it should feel silky, not stiff. Divide into at least 10 to 15 portions (up to 33 for the full tradition). Cover and rest for 30 minutes. The dough is ready when it offers no resistance when pressed.
2. 2
   Blanch the chard briefly in boiling salted water. Drain, and when cool enough to handle, squeeze in batches with both hands until no further liquid comes from the leaves. The chard must be genuinely dry — a handful should hold its shape when pressed and release no moisture.
3. 3
   Chop the squeezed chard finely. Combine with the prescinseua (or ricotta-yoghurt substitute), grated Parmigiano, marjoram, and the beaten eggs. Season with salt and pepper. The filling should be cohesive and hold its shape on a spoon — not liquid, not stiff.
4. 4
   On the back of your hands, stretch each dough portion to paper-thinness after the manner of strudel dough. Oil a round baking tin generously. Lay the first sheet in the tin, brush the surface with olive oil, and continue layering and oiling — sheet by sheet — until roughly half the portions are used. Each sheet must be brushed with oil immediately after laying; the pastry is done layering when it is visibly glistening and the base feels padded but not heavy beneath the fingers.
5. 5
   This is where the dish lives or dies. Spread the filling evenly over the layered base. Make as many depressions in the surface of the filling as there are whole eggs to be used. Crack one whole egg carefully into each well, keeping the yolk intact. The whites should sit within the depression, the yolks proud and unbroken — a broken yolk at this stage cannot be recovered in the bake.
6. 6
   Stretch and layer the remaining dough portions over the filling, brushing each sheet generously with olive oil as before. Pinch and fold the edges of the top and bottom layers together to seal. The finished pie should be sealed at its circumference with no gaps visible.
7. 7
   Bake at 180 °C until the top is uniformly golden and the pastry sounds hollow when tapped at the centre. The filling is set when the pie does not tremble on being moved. The egg whites within must be firm; the yolks should remain jammy — the pie is done the moment the surface is deep gold, before the interior eggs harden.