A STORYBOOK PIE FOR EASTER.

My Easter Greens Pie is packed with silver beet, ricotta and eggs, giving you plenty of options for perfect holiday eating.

This is a storybook sort of pie – the type that is always cooling on the window ledge in comics and cartoons, three squiggly wisps of steam rising from its golden crust.

It’s also a holiday sort of pie. You may have had something similar in Italy, around Genoa and Liguria, and marvelled at the density of its dark green filling and the soft crunch of the pastry. I ate one once on the train to Rome, and and it was so lovely that I decided then and there to reproduce it as soon as I got home.

Yeah well, fifteen years later, I’ve finally had a go at it.

I made Easter my deadline, because to Italy this is an Easter pie, the famous Torta Pasqualina.  In Liguria, it is filled with all manner of wild greens, nettles and weeds, and even artichokes. My version is stuffed with silver beet, spinach and spring onions, bound with ricotta and parmesan and scented with nutmeg and garlic.

I like the idea of it as a weekend project, because it opens up so many options. You can eat it hot from the oven, or at room temperature with a glass of wine. It’s sturdy enough to take on a picnic without falling apart at the first fence. It can be a meat-free meal, or be teamed with sausages and tomato sauce.

To simplify the traditional recipe, which uses multiple layers of very fine pastry, this one is made with bought puff pastry. Look for the all-butter Careme from Tanunda, South Australia, for extra richness and flakiness, or use your preferred supermarket brand.  I cooked mine straight through in one go without faffing around with pre-baking, and it behaved itself beautifully.

The clever thing about this pie is that it is baked in a cake tin, which gives a very pleasing height and depth. Not only that, but the heat transference is so good that the pastry crisps not only on the top, but on the sides, and the springform release makes it super-easy to remove without having to turn the pie upside-down.

Oh, you have questions? I am so pleased.

HOW DO I KNOW HOW MUCH GREENS I NEED?

 You should start with around 1 kg greens, which will cook down to about four cups. I did 1 huge bunch silver beet and 2 bunches of spinach, but it could have been 2 silver beet and one spinach; it doesn’t seem to mind.

HOW DO I AVOID A SOGGY BOTTOM?

Give yourself time to cook down the greens in simmering salted water until wilted, allow them to cool, and squeeze out the excess liquid (I saved mine to add to a soup) before mixing with the ricotta.  If you don’t, the liquid will drop to the bottom and sog up the pastry.

HOW DO I LINE THE CAKE TIN WITH PASTRY SHEETS?

You will probably need three sheets of pastry. Thaw it first, but keep it refrigerated until you are actually handling it. Use it’s own plastic liners to pick it up (but do remove them, right?) Drape one sheet over half the base and sides of the tin, pressing gently to cover the base to the edges, and another slightly over-lapping to cover the second half of the tin. Then just press-and-patch them together to completely line the base and sides, with some flopping over the top. Don’t freak - pastry is always more forgiving than you think it is going to be, and it ‘cooks’ itself together.

Trim off any much longer bits to even it up a bit. The final sheet will then go on top of the filling, to be pinched together with what’s there. It’s easier to work with fridge-cold pastry then room temperature, which won’t hold its shape as well.

HOW DO I KNOW WHERE I HAVE BURIED THE EGGS?

Clever people will mark the exact locations of the eggs on the pastry lid with a tiny X, which will make it easy to know where to cut the very first slice to reveal that perfectly halved egg. If you forget to do so, then just think of this as your very own easter egg hunt.

EASTER GREENS PIE Serves 4

• 3 sheets of puff pastry, to line a 20 cm cake tin

• 1 onion, chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, grated

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 large bunch silver beet

• 2 large bunches spinach (real, not baby)

• 4 spring onions, trimmed and roughly chopped (white and green)

• 6 eggs (2 of them beaten, 4 whole)

• 375 g smooth ricotta (drain for 30 mins if runny)

• 1 tbsp grated lemon zest

• Grated nutmeg (be hallucinatingly generous)

• Half tsp dried oregano

• 1 tsp sea salt and black pepper to taste

• 100 g grated parmesan or similar

• 1 extra egg, beaten, for egg wash

Thaw the pastry, and lay out on the bench. Spray or lightly brush the cake tin with olive oil. Trim the pastry to fit the cake-tin (see note above), and refrigerate until required, or it will soften too much.

To make the filling, heat the oil in a large fry pan and fry the onion over gentle heat, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned.

Add the garlic, cook through for 1 minute, and set aside to cool.

Wash the silver beet and spinach well to get rid of any grit, cut off the stalks (save for a soup), and roughly chop the leaves.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, add the silver beet and spinach leaves and cook for 3 minutes, then add the spring onions and cook for 1 minute.

Drain and leave to cool until you can handle them, then squeeze out excess moisture and roughly chop.

Heat the oven to 210C. Now you’re ready to assemble everything.

Beat 2 eggs then beat in the ricotta, lemon zest, oregano, nutmeg, sea salt and pepper until smooth. Beat in all but 2 tbsp of the grated parmesan.

Mix the chopped greens with the onion and garlic, and add to the ricotta mixture, tossing until well-mixed.

Prick the base of the pastry in the cake tin and scatter with 1 tbsp parmesan, then spoon in the greens and ricotta mixture, gently pressing to level it out.

Use the back of a teaspoon to hollow out four egg-shaped holes in the filling, and crack an egg into each one (doesn’t matter if the egg white spills over). Scatter the remaining 1 tbsp parmesan over the eggs.

Trim the final sheet of pastry to fit generously (it will shrink), and place over the top, pinching it together with the overlapping pastry until sealed. Prick the top with a fork, and brush with beaten egg.

Place in the oven on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 210C, then drop the temperature to 190C and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove to a wire cooling rack for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the rim to help separate the pastry from the tin.

Gently remove the tin, and allow the pie to sit for another 15 minutes or so before slicing, to give it time to settle.

Use a sharp knife to cut into wedges and serve.

Thanks for dropping by! By the way, if you need to print out this recipe in order to use it, email me on jill@jilldupleix.com and I’ll send it to you as an attachment. Special thanks to Terry for always bringing home great eggs; we love the Mulloon Creek eggs from Bungendore especially.

Easter Reading: This story on the rise of the Dull Woman’s Club made me laugh out loud and then nod wisely and hiss “yesssss” between my teeth. Thanks, Clea Jones!

I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to Elders past and present, and to the continuing strength and resilience of First Nations people, communities and cultures.