Fances writes, "My late father used to make, every Easter, a "pie" called "Torta Verde." This is a dish that originates in the Piedmont section of Italy, where he was born. It's made with chopped spinach, rice, eggs, Parmigiano cheese, and baked. I would love to have an idea of the proportions. Can you help with this?"
I've found a couple of recipies. Here's the first, Spring Pie with Green Rice. To serve 6, you'll need:
I've found a couple of recipies. Here's the first, Spring Pie with Green Rice. To serve 6, you'll need:
Prep Time: 60 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (200 g) Vialone Nano or other short-grained rice
- 1 1/3 pounds mixed greens, including collard greens, spinach, young nettles
- (use gloves until you've scalded them), chives, shallot tops, fresh celery leaves, and violets
- 6 ounces (150 g) flat (as opposed to rolled, which will work if need be) pancetta, diced
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 ladles broth
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon minced parsley
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 ounces (50 g) minced salami (you'll want something mild)
- 1 basil leaf, minced
- The leaves of a sprig of thyme, minced
- 2 sage leaves, minced
- 2 mint leaves, minced
- A bunch of marjoram, minced
- A heaping cup (60 g) freshly grated Parmigiano
- A heaping cup (60 g) shredded Gruyere or Fontina
- 1/4 cup plus one tablespoon (60 g) unsalted butter
- Bread crumbs for lining the baking pan
- Salt and pepper
Preparation:
Wash the greens well, and shred them coarsely.
Heat the oil in a large pot and sauté the minced pancetta; once the pancetta has browned (don't let it burn) add the shredded greens and the rice. Mix well and stir in the broth; let cook until the rice is about half cooked. At this point turn off the flame and let the mixture cool. Crumble the salami into it, mix in the eggs, and then the minced garlic and the herbs, finishing with the cheeses. Add the butter as well, and check seasoning.
Preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C).
Butter and dust an oven pan large enough to hold the ingredients (figure a pie a little more than an inch, 2.5 cm, high), then pour them out into it. Bake for about 10 minutes, then flip the pie onto a serving dish and remove the pan. Let it cool, and serve it slightly warm, cut into wedges or squares.
As a variation, you can cook the rice in lightly salted water until it reaches the al dente stage, then drain it and turn it out onto a clean dishtowel to dry it, and combine it with the other ingredients. This way you'll have more of a contrast between the rice flavors and the flavors of the rest of the filling.
The other recipe.
Interested in the traditional savory Easter pie from Liguria? It's called Torta Pasqualina, and contains a great many eggs, to celebrate the arrival of spring.
Yield: 6 servings Piemontese springtime pie with green rice.
Heat the oil in a large pot and sauté the minced pancetta; once the pancetta has browned (don't let it burn) add the shredded greens and the rice. Mix well and stir in the broth; let cook until the rice is about half cooked. At this point turn off the flame and let the mixture cool. Crumble the salami into it, mix in the eggs, and then the minced garlic and the herbs, finishing with the cheeses. Add the butter as well, and check seasoning.
Preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C).
Butter and dust an oven pan large enough to hold the ingredients (figure a pie a little more than an inch, 2.5 cm, high), then pour them out into it. Bake for about 10 minutes, then flip the pie onto a serving dish and remove the pan. Let it cool, and serve it slightly warm, cut into wedges or squares.
As a variation, you can cook the rice in lightly salted water until it reaches the al dente stage, then drain it and turn it out onto a clean dishtowel to dry it, and combine it with the other ingredients. This way you'll have more of a contrast between the rice flavors and the flavors of the rest of the filling.
The other recipe.
Interested in the traditional savory Easter pie from Liguria? It's called Torta Pasqualina, and contains a great many eggs, to celebrate the arrival of spring.
Yield: 6 servings Piemontese springtime pie with green rice.
