TORTA PASCUALINA (SPINACH RICOTTA PIE)

Torta pascualina (Spinach ricotta pie) image

Torta pascualina is originally an Italian pie common in Argentina and Uraguay as a popular Easter dish. Whenever you serve this, it's a delicious combination of cheeses, spinach and egg, wrapped up in crisp pastry. Great for brunch/lunch.

Provided by @MakeItYours

Number Of Ingredients 10

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Ingredients

2 sheets puff pastry (or use shortcrust pastry or empanada dough)
20 oz frozen spinach (566g (2 x 10oz packets))
1 onion (small, or 1/2 large)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup ricotta (240g)
1 cup mozzarella (120g)
1/2 cup parmesan
6 eggs

Steps:

Lightly oil/butter the inside of your pie dish. Roll out one piece of pastry to approx 1/8in/3mm thick (or a bit thicker, as you prefer). Turn over your pie dish and use the top to cut the top layer for the pie. Set this aside. Roll out the other piece of pastry, adding in the scraps from before if needed to make large enough, and use this to line the pie dish. Trim the edges.
Defrost the spinach according to packet instructions and squeeze out excess liquid.
Preheat oven to 350F/175C.
Finely dice the onion and garlic. Warm the oil in a medium skillet over a medium heat and add the onion. Cook a couple minutes until softening then add the garlic. Cook a couple more minutes until onion is translucent.
Add the spinach and nutmeg to the onion and stir well. Feel free to add a little salt and pepper as well, if you like. Set the pan aside to cool.
Mix the ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan and 1 egg in a bowl. Add the cooled spinach mixture and mix well. Fill the pie dish and spread evenly.
Use the back of a spoon to make 5 indents in the filling - you will probably need to make them deeper than you might think - then crack an egg into each of them. Brush around the edge of the bottom pastry layer with water then carefully put the top layer of pastry over the pie. Press together the edges and put two slits as air holes in the middle. Lightly brush the top with milk.
Bake the pie for approximately 50 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool a little before slicing. Serve slices warm or cold.