Torta Pasqualina: a slice of Easter

If you head out to a picnic on Easter Monday (or Pasquetta as the locals call it), your picnic basket won’t be complete without one vital culinary inclusion – torta pasqualina.

A signature dish from the Liguria region, torta pasqualina (Easter pie) is a savory creation that’s best served cold, making it perfect for day trips. It’s a traditional dish that many Italians have grown up with, and its history can be traced back as far as 1400.

 

Torta pasqualina is made by wrapping roasted artichoke, spinach, chard, ricotta cheese and herbs in layer upon layer of thinly-rolled pasta. In fact, in keeping with its Easter theme, there are supposed to 12 eggs used (one for each of the apostles) and 33 sheets of pasta– one for each year of Christ’s life. As a general rule though, most people use just four or five layers – the dish is hearty enough as it is, and provides plenty of energy for an Easter Monday hike in the country.