Easter Cake

Name: Easter Cake (Torta Pasqualina)
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 650 g (1 lb 7 oz) ready-made puff pastry, defrosted if frozen; milk for glazing; 3 tbsp olive oil; 55 g (2 oz) pancetta affumicata or smoked bacon, cut into matchsticks; 55 g (2 oz) pancetta affumicata or smoked bacon, cut into matchsticks; 1 garlic clove, finely chopped; 2 ripe tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped; 750 g (1 lb 10 oz) bitter leaves (curly endive, radicchio, batavia etc.), cut into 6cm (2½ in) lengths; 750 g (1 lb 10 oz) bitter leaves (curly endive, radicchio, batavia etc.), cut into 6cm (2½ in) lengths; 750 g (1 lb 10 oz) bitter leaves (curly endive, radicchio, batavia etc.), cut into 6cm (2½ in) lengths; 750 g (1 lb 10 oz) bitter leaves (curly endive, radicchio, batavia etc.), cut into 6cm (2½ in) lengths; 25 g (1 oz) capers, preferably salted, rinsed; 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) ricotta cheese; 10 eggs; 55 g (2 oz) Parmesan, freshly grated; salt and pepper to taste; salt and pepper to taste

Torta Pasqualina

Preparation info

Serves
8

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

An Invitation to Italian Cooking

By Antonio Carluccio

Published 1986

About

‘This Genoese speciality is ideal for picnics; in fact the Italians cook it for the traditional trip to the country on the day after Easter, which is called Paquetta.’

Ingredients

650 g (1 lb 7 oz) ready-made puff pastry, defrosted if frozen
milk

Europe
Italy
Genoa
Cake
Easter

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan that has a tight-fitting lid. Fry the bacon in the hot oil and after a minute add the garlic. The bacon must become quite crisp and the garlic must not go brown. Add the tomatoes and when they have begun to bubble put in the bitter leaves and capers. Stir so that all the ingredients are well mixed. Cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes. The leaves should