One of the traditional Ligurian dishes is Torta Pasqualina, a delicious vegetable-based preparation that brings everyone together and is now eaten all year round.
If you don’t know its history, find out with us!

Friends of Pesto Fresco Genovese, the cold weather is setting in, as on the other hand is normal in winter, and we decided to warm up by thinking about a dish that in the collective imagination is springtime: the Torta Pasqualina.
So today we are not talking about our beloved Pesto Fresco Genovese, but we are staying with the Liguria theme, because the Torta Pasqualina is another of our typical Ligurian dishes, certainly it is among the best known.
Of Torta Pasqualina we tell you a few historical hints, because you can find the recipe very easily on the web.

History of Torta Pasqualina

This is a vegetable pie that centuries ago was known as Gattafura. That’s right, friends of Pesto Fresco.
It was first named Gattafura in the 14th Century by the Milanese scholar Hortensio Lando, who mentioned it in his “Catalogo de gli inventori delle cose che si mangiano e bevono” and liked it so much that he commented, “I liked honey more than the bear.”
This pie with a filling of chard, cheese, eggs, fresh marjoram and prescinseua (if you are not familiar with it read our article by clicking on the word above) in ancient times was prepared for the Easter holiday and was covered with thirty-three layers of puff pastry.
Do you know why the layers of puff pastry were precisely thirty-three? In homage to the years of Christ.
The original Torta Pasqualina involves the use of chard, which is inexpensive and readily available, but there is also a more refined version with artichokes.

Curiosities about Torta Pasqualina

The Queen of savory pies is typical of the city of Genoa, and legend has it that in addition to the thirty-three layers of puff pastry, whole eggs were to be placed inside the filling as a symbol of birth.
Knife marks were made on the vegetable pie, apparently due to the fact that at one time not everyone had an oven at home and such marks were used to recognize one’s pie.

Torta Pasqualina today is a popular dish that is prepared year-round, very convenient because it is also eaten cold. Indeed! We appreciate it even more cold in any season, enjoyed with good Ligurian white wine.
How do you prefer it? Chard or artichoke? Hot or cold?