Recipe(tried): Three Italian Easter Pie Recipes - Torta Pasqualina, Italian Easter Pie, Aunt Norma's Fiadone

Hi Gloria,

I posted three Italian Easter Pies. Two are savory and one is sweet. I have made the Torta Di Pasqualina and Aunt Norma's Fiadone. The recipe called Italian Easter Pie had a nice description with it so I posted that too. They are both very good and very rich. I highly recommend you make this for Easter, no matter what recipe you use, simply because it is so rich in tradition!

Torta Pasqualina

Pastry Crust (for a 10" pie pan): Serves 6 as main dish or 10 as an appetizer

2 1/2 cups of white flour
1/2 tsp. salt
8 Tblsp. chilled butter
4 Tblsp. chilled shortening (Crisco)
4 Tblsp. iced water, approximately

Place the flour and salt in food processor bowl with steel blade. Pulse twice to mix. Quickly cut butter and shortening into rough pieces, about 1/2 tablespoon each. Add to processor bowl and pulse in one second pulses about 10 to 12 times until the fat is cut into the flour to about the size of a pea. Drizzle in the iced water by tablespoons, pulsing in one second bursts, just until the dough begins to come together. Do not over process or add more water than necessary, or the dough will shrink in the pie plate.

Turn dough onto a floured board and knead very lightly once or twice until it holds together. Divide into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other, pat into a round shape, dust lightly with flour, wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate at least 20 to 30 minutes or longer.

1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, bulk or casings removed
1 pound whole milk ricotta
4 large eggs
2 hard boiled eggs, roughly chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup grated Italian Fontina
1/4 cup finely minced parsley
4 oz. Prosciutto, not too thinly sliced, then roughly diced
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt

Cook the sausage over medium heat until done, breaking up with a wooden spoon. There should be no pink remaining. Drain off all fat and set the meat aside to cool.

Beat the ricotta and 4 raw eggs together to blend well. Mix in the chopped cooked eggs, Parmesan, Fontina, parsley, Prosciutto, and black pepper.

Egg Wash: 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 Tblsp. cold water

Roll the larger dough disc about 1/4" thick and place in pie plate leaving an overhand at the lip. Spoon in the filling. Roll the second disc, fit on top of the pie, trim the pastry edge to meet, and seal and flute the edges. Brush the top of the pie with the egg wash. Cut four vents in the center and bake in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes until nicely browned. Let cool on a rack at least 15 minutes before cutting. May be served warm or at room temperature.

Altitude Adjustment: Above 5000 feet increase baking time by ten minutes.

Italian Easter Pie

This pie traditionally should consist of 33 layers of pastry. One for each year of Christ's life. Made with flour, oil and water. But this can also be made with ready made filo pastry as a substitute. Note if substituting chard for spinach be sure to use mostly leaf and keep the extra stalks for use in another recipe. The stalks are delicious blanched then tossed in butter.

3 lb. spinach leaves
salt and pepper
1/2 oz. fresh marjoram leaves
12 oz. ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
7 oz. fresh parmesan cheese, grated
9 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup fresh white breadcrumbs
14 oz. filo pastry, defrosted
6 tbs. butter, melted.

Rinse the spinach leaves. Remove the stalks and cut them into 2 inch lengths. Cook the stalks in boiling salted water for 3-5 minutes until just tender, then remove with a slotted spoon. Add the leaves to the same boiling water and bring back to a boil, then drain well. Squeeze the excess water from all the greens by wrapping them in a clean dishtowel and twisting the ends in opposite directions. Leave to cool, then coarsely chop the stalks and leaves and transfer to a large bowl.

Add the marjoram, ricotta or cottage cheese, 6 oz. of the parmesan cheese, 3 eggs, milk, and bread crumbs to the greens. Season very generously with salt and pepper and beat thoroughly until evenly combined. It is a good ida to cook a tny amount of the mixture in a small frying pan, or in the microwave to check the seasoning.

Preheat the over to 400

Lay out the filo pastry on a sheet of plastic wrap and keep one-third covered with extra wrap to prevent it from drying. This portion will make the top of the pie.

Grease a 9 inch non-stick spring form cake pan with a little of the melted butter. Lay a sheet of filo pastry in the bottom of the pan, letting the pastry edges fall over the sides. Brush the filo sheet with butter. Continue layering the pastry, buttering between each sheet and pressing the pastry into the sides of the pan. it does not matter how you do this, if the pastry breaks it can easily be patched.

Spoon the filling into the pastry case and level the surface. Make six large indentations in the surface of using the back of a spoon. Crack the remaining eggs, one at a time, and carefully set one in each indentation without breaking the yolk. Season to taste and sprinkle with the remaining parmesan cheese.

Fold the overlapping pastry over, then top with the remaining pastry in layers, brushing with butter between each layer. This can be done in a fairly haphazard way with folds to produce a decorative effect to the finished pie. Brush with the last of the butter, then with a little cold water. Bake the pie for 1-1/2 hours until the pastry is crisp and golden.

Leave the pie to cool in the pan. This should be served just warm to bring out the best of the rich flavors.

Aunt Norma's Fiadone
Makes one 10-inch pie.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour the pan.

Dough Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. anise seed
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

Sift together the flour, sugar, and baking powder. Add the anise seed. Beat the eggs lightly, add butter, then add this mixture to the flour and work into a soft dough, keeping an additional 1/4 cup flour ready to add as necessary. The consistency will be that of a soft cookie dough. Add only enough additional flour to keep from sticking. Chill until ready to bake the pie.

Filling:
2 lbs. fresh whole milk ricotta
1/4 lb. citron
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Glaze:
Egg wash made with the yolk of an egg yolk and a Tblsp. water

Mix filling ingredients in the order given. Roll out dough 1/8" thick. Place in pie pan and cut off excess. Flute edges. Reroll the trimmings to make the lattice top. Pour in the filling, cut six lattice strips about 3/4" wide and place three in each directions over the top. Brush with the egg wash and bake at 350 for one hour until set. Cool completely before cutting.

Altitude Adjustment: At 8000 feet I had to increase the baking time to 1 hr. and 10 min. Altitude adjustment should begin at 2,500 feet at one-third the amount shown here, two-thirds at 5,000 feet, and the full amount at 7,500 feet. Scale similarly every additional 2,500 feet.