Happy Easter with Grandma’s Torta Pasqualina

A very Italian Easter recipe but one taken from my Brazilian grandmother’s cookbook paired with a great Italian white wine: the Batàr 2016 by Querciabella.

Ingredients:

For the dough: 2 cups of white OO flour, 1 tablespoon dry yeast, 1 egg, 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, ½ warm milk and a pinch of salt.

For the filling: 300g chard, 1 onion, 1 garlic clove, 50g grated Parmigiano, the crumb of three slices of bread, a little milk, 3 eggs plus 1 yolk, salt and pepper as needed.

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk. In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt, egg, oil and then the milk with the yeast. Knead until you obtain a firm, homogenous and elastic dough. Let the dough sit for around an hour covered with a dish cloth.

Clean the chard, boil it in salted water, drain and squeeze dry. Heat a trickle of EVOO in a pan and brown the onion that has been sliced and the garlic clove. Remove the garlic and add the chard that has been roughly chopped and sauté it at a medium heat. Put the cooked chard in a container and mix in the grated Parmigiano, milk-soaked and squeezed crumb and salt and pepper to taste.

Use 2/3 of the dough to line a round baking pan that has been greased with EVOO making sure to cover over the rim. Add in the filling and use a ladle to create three depressions for the raw eggs. Make a disc with the remaining dough and use it to cover the filling then

fold over the dough on the rim to seal it. Brush the top with egg yolk. Bake for 25/30 minutes in a static oven pre-heated to 180°C.

Wine to pair:

(edited by Stefania Vinciguerra)

Batàr 2016 Querciabella

Pale and bright golden yellow color. Nose of yellow plum, fresh almond, citron and vanilla on the background. Saline palate, full, agile, with great tension between alcohol warmth and acidity. Wonderful length.

Production area: it originates from south-facing vineyards situated in Ruffoli, Greve in Chianti, between 350–600 m above sea level. The soil composition and drainage vary from site to site: clay and sandstones are more present in the lower vineyards, marly schist and slate (Galestro) on the hilltop.

Grape varieties: Chardonnay 50%, Pinot Bianco 50%, cultivated according to biodynamic viticulture since 2000 (previously, since 1988, under organic farming). The yield is 25 hl/ha (270 gallons/acres).

Harvest: took place from August 23 to September 12; grapes were harvested by hand in 9-kilo crates.

Winemaking: juice is gently extracted with a bladder press. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentations take place in French barriques with regular, but not too frequent, bâtonnage that creates texture while retaining precision and tension. Barrel maturation takes 9 to 12 months. Once élevage is complete, lots are selected through extensive sampling. The final blend wine is transferred into cement tanks for 6 months and then bottled. Further bottle ageing is allowed at the cellar before release. 

Alcoholic content: 13.5% vol.

Serving temperature: 6-8°C (43–47° F).

No animal products or byproducts are used in the production of this wine, making it suitable for vegans and vegetarians.

Related Products