Torta Pasqualina is a typical recipe of the Easter holiday. Simple to prepare using a ready-made pastry, it’s a little more complicated if you want to prepare an original torta pasqualina and start from scratch. It is a Ligurian specialty but famous far beyond the borders of the region from which it originates.
In Ligurian cuisine, vegetable pies are very prevalent and are generally prepared around Easter. In fact, in Italian, the word Pasqua translates to “Easter.” The first mentions of this type of pie are found in Renaissance cookbooks.
The original torta Pasqualina includes a pastry made up of 33 very thin layers, a number chosen not by chance, but precisely to symbolize the years of Jesus Christ.
It was prepared using only strictly Ligurian water, flour, salt, and extra-virgin olive oil. Nowadays, it is limited to about 10 sheets, which are rolled very thinly and mixed without eggs but with flour, Ligurian oil, water, and salt.
The filling, on the other hand, involves the use of prescinseua, a particular soft cheese with a consistency halfway between yogurt and ricotta.
Because it is very difficult to find outside Liguria, it is often replaced by ricotta. Other ingredients include chard or artichokes, as well as marjoram and whole eggs, the last being a symbol of life and rebirth, the return of spring, and the triumph of life over death.
