Authentic Italian Easter Pie with Spinach & Ricotta

Authentic Italian Easter Pie (aka Torta Pasqualina) 🐰🐣🐣.

Let’s celebrate Easter with one of my favorite Italian pies, Torta Pasqualina. Buttery puff pastry filled with a tasty spinach and ricotta mix and a super fun surprise in the middle: eggs. Slicing the pie and revealing the bright yellow and white boiled eggs in the center of the green spinach mix is always a pleasure for the eyes. It’s also the kids’ favorite part. Will we be able to cut the egg in the center?

For this recipe I used @egglandsbest eggs. What I love about Eggland’s Best eggs is that compared to ordinary eggs, EB eggs have more than double the Omega 3 fatty acids (brain fuel for for the kids!) and vitamin B12, ten times more vitamin E, six times more vitamin D (so important to boost the immune system) and 25% less saturated fat. An impressive nutritional profile, right? 😉

Great eggs for a great recipe 🙂

Ready to bake?

INGREDIENTS:

2 puff pastry rolls

16oz. ricotta cheese (500gr)

4 Tbsp olive oil

7 medium eggs

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated (50gr)

25 oz fresh spinach (700gr)

1 medium yellow onion, minced

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 garlic cloves, minced

PROCEDURE:

Preheat the oven to 400F.

In a large skillet add the olive oil, garlic and onion. Cook at medium/high heat for 4 minutes up until golden. Add the spinach, a bit at the time. Using thongs stir the spinach so that they will reduce their volume and you will be able to add more. Cook for 4 minutes up until the spinach are nice and tender. Turn the heat off and let cool down.

Squeeze any extra liquid from the spinach and transfer in a large bowl. Roughly chop the spinach with a scissor.

Add the ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, parmesan cheese, sea salt and nutmeg. Mix well and set aside.

Grease a 10 inch springform pan with some cooking oil. Cover the bottom and the side of the pan with the first roll of puff pastry. Trim out the extras and poke the bottom with a fork.

Fill with the spinach and ricotta mix. Spread the mix evenly.

With a tablespoon create 4 holes, deep enough to contain one egg.

Add a raw egg in each hole. 4 eggs total.

Gently cover the pie with the second roll of puff pastry. Trim the extras. With your fingers twist down the edges to seal the pie.

Make an incision in the center of the top pastry with a knife to release the steam in the oven.

Cut out some decorations from the puff pastry scraps using a cookie cutter.

Brush the surface of the pie with 1 egg.

Bake in the preheated oven to 400F for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, let the pie cool down for 10 minutes and enjoy!