Savory Spring Wild Greens Pie (Torta Pasqalina)

This traditional savory pie is called Torta Pasqualina in Italy and originates in Liguria. My version is filled with wild spring greens including stinging nettle and ramp leaves. The crust can be made with a puff pastry but originally it was made with a strudel-like dough called pasta matta (crazy dough). Legend goes it was originally made with 33 layers of dough to celebrate each year of Jesus' life, but 4 layers works just fine. The magic of it all is when you cut it open to reveal the eggs hidden inside. The whole is rather uncomplicated and makes for a visually stunning and delicious spring lunch. Video of the whole process is below. 

The Dough

Ingredients:

300 g all purpose flour

120 g water

5 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

*This is enough for 4 sheets of dough for an 8" baking pan. You'll need to increase the ratio if using a bigger pan. 

Directions:

Mix together all of the dough ingredients in a bowl. At first it will be quite shaggy (similar to making pasta dough). Keep working for a few minutes and transfer to a clean working surface. Continue kneading with both hands until smooth and homogenous. It needs to rest for at least 30 minutes before rolling out but can be made up to a day ahead. Store in tupperware and wrap in plastic wrap tightly while resting. Keep in the refrigerator if not using right away.

The Filling:

Ingredients:

1-1.5 cups of blanched stinging nettles (completely squeezed of all excess water - this step is critical otherwise the end result is soggy)

4-6 whole ramp leaves

12-16 oz of whole milk ricotta

1/2 cup of grated pecorino romano

salt and pepper to taste

4 eggs

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1. Blanch stinging nettle for 30 seconds and transfer to an ice bath. Remove from the cold water and squeeze all of the excess water out from the leaves. The liquid that is extracted is an amazing green color and filled with nutrients. 

2. Chop the ramp leaves and saute in olive oil in a pan on low heat for 20 seconds before adding in the stinging nettle. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

3. Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside 3 of the 4 eggs. 

4. Cover and refrigerate if not using right away.

The Pie:

Directions:

1. Cut your dough into 4 equal sections. Set your oven for 350F. 

2. Prepare a clean work surface and gather your tools (rolling pin, pastry brush, large cutting board). 

3. Coat each piece of dough with more olive oil.

4. Using your fingertips, begin pressing one piece of the dough to begin the stretching process. You'll alternate using your hands to gently stretch and the rolling pin until you have a nice uniform sheet of dough that is approximately 10-12" in diameter. 

5. Lubricate the bottom of your 8" baking pan (I use a cast iron skillet) with more olive oil. Don't be shy with it. 

6. Gently lay in the first sheet of dough into the pan, using your fingers to press out any air bubbles and to wrap the dough around the top lip of the pan. It doesn't need to be perfect as you'll finess as you go. Brush with olive oil.

7. Roll out the second sheet of dough and lay in on top of the first sheet, again pressing out any air bubbles. 

8. Spoon in the filling and spread evenly to fill the entire pan. Use a spoon to create 3 wells where the remaining eggs will go. 

9. Carefully crack the 3 eggs into the indentions you just made.

10. Roll out the third layer of dough and carefully drape it on top of the filling and let the edges hang down over the pan. Brush with olive oil.

11. Roll out the final sheet of dough and lay it on top. 

12. Use your fingers to carefully roll the edges of the dough upwards, and inwards, to create a sealed edge around the top circumference of the pie. The bottom layers should be stretched and rolled up and around the top layers. Brush with more olive oil and use a knife to create a small hole to steam in the center of the pie.

13. Bake in the oven at 350F for 40-45 minutes or until lightly browned.

14. Allow to cool, slice, and enjoy. 

Blood Orange & Pistachio Olive Oil Cake

Here’s a riff on my previous upside down blood orange olive oil cake which opts for a blood orange glaze instead of sliced fruit. It’s a little less fussy, but equally as impressive. The crushed pistachios are completely optional but make for a wonderful compliment to the citrus. Video of the process down below.

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup cornmeal (coarse)

3/4 cup fine granulated sugar (caster) *regular white sugar works fine!

½ cup blood orange juice (freshly squeezed) + ¼ cup for glaze

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3 eggs

1/2 plain yogurt (sour cream works well too)

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tbsp butter at room temperature

½ cup confectioner’s sugar (for glaze)

Chunky flake salt

1/4 cup crushed pistachios

Directions:

Set your oven for 350F.

Add the yogurt to the sugar and whisk together until incorporated. Add in the eggs and olive oil and continue to mix together. Add in all of the dry ingredients one by one and continue mixing. Finally whisk in the blood orange juice. 

Grease your baking pan liberally with butter and line with a sheet of parchment paper and add more butter to the top of the paper. Pour the batter into your pan. 

Bake for 30-35 minutes until done. If using a deeper rectangular pan, this may take 35-45 minutes. Use a toothpick to make sure it is fully cooked through. It should come out clean. Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes while you prepare your glaze. 

In a small bowl add the confectioner’s sugar. Slowly begin whisking in the remaining blood orange juice little by little until it has the consistency somewhere between maple syrup and icing. A little juice goes a long way. You should be able to drizzle/pour the glaze over the cooled cake and it should begin to firm up within a few minutes. Before it fully hardens, sprinkle the flake salt all over the surface. If adding crushed pistachios, now is the time to sprinkle on a layer across the top.

How to Hack a New York Style Pizza Slice in a Small Home Oven

After a few months of testing, here’s my recipe for how to get as close to a classic NY slice you can get using your ordinary home oven. The “hack” is really just a way to cut the pizza into a proper adult size slice out of a smaller pie - but hack aside I fully advocate for this recipe and can’t get enough of it.

This recipe is a roughly 17 hour room-temperature fermentation at 64% hydration with sourdough. It yields a flavorful, chewy, and sturdy crust - and when baked properly you’ll get zero flop if that’s what you’re searching for. The schedule for the dough below is built around starting fermentation in the evening and having everything ready by lunch the following day. You can adjust your timing as you see fit - or retard the fermentation by transferring to the refrigerator after dividing and shaping. If refrigerating, be sure to remove your dough at least an hour before baking to bring it up to room temperature before baking.

Baking this pizza requires a baking stone for your oven.

The Dough

Ingredients

450 g bread flour

50 g whole wheat flour

320 g water

95 g active sourdough starter

11 g salt

Yields 3x approximately 300 g balls dough.

Directions

In the afternoon, mix together the water and the flour and set to autolyse for one hour up to six hours. Because of the lower hydration, it will be a little shaggy which is okay.

At about 7 pm add the salt and active sourdough starter and start working into the dough with your hands or with a rubber spatula until more or less homogenous. Let rest for 45 minutes.

You’ll want to fold the dough at least two more times (with your hands) over the course of the next 1 - 2 hours to develop the gluten. By the end the dough should be very smooth and should not stick to your hands while folding. Cover and rest overnight at room temperature. I generally do my nighttime folds as I go about whatever else is happening in the house. The timing does not need to be precise, but you should try to get in a few cycles for optimal gluten formation.

In the morning (approximately 7am) divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and shape into balls, folding the dough into itself, and using the table/counter surface to create tension. Transfer to air tight containers and keep out at room temperature if baking off at lunch.

The Red Sauce

This red sauce is more or less exactly the way my Nonna used to make it.

Ingredients

Stewed whole San Marzano tomatoes (good ones make a difference)

Garlic

Yellow onion

Basil

Parmesan Rind

Salt

Pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

The key here is simplicity, and good ingredients (especially the tomatoes). Lightly puree the tomatoes in a processor or with a stick blender. Be careful not to aerate the tomatoes too much. For a chunkier sauce you can simply crush the tomatoes by hand. Set aside in a bowl. Peel and dice three to five cloves of garlic and set aside. Peel and chop the onion in half. By cooking the entire halves you will impart the flavor of the onion and the sauce won’t have chunks of onion in it. 

Heat a generous pour of EVOO in your saucepan at medium to low heat. Add your garlic and onion halves and let simmer for a few minutes. Be careful not to burn anything. Add a piece of parmesan rind into the hot oil, and let it simmer for another minute. The oils from the cheese will add depth to the sauce. Add your tomatoes to the pan, and bring to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add some chopped basil, stir, and set on medium/low. You want your sauce to simmer for about 30 minutes. Stir frequently to make sure it's not sticking to the bottom.

The Pizza

Ingredients

The red sauce

Good extra virgin olive oil

Parmesan cheese

Pecorino

Shredded low-moisture mozzarella

Directions

Set your oven to 500F.

Flour your work surface and set the first dough ball down. Begin to stretch and shape it carefully to remove all pockets of air in the center and only leaving a small rim around the entire pie. There are various techniques you can use from tossing in the air, to gently using both hands to stretch the edges of the dough (check out Youtube for that). Key here is getting as thin as you can without tearing the dough.

Spoon on a thin layer of red sauce but don’t go all the way to the edge.

Sprinkle on a layer of low-moisture mozzarella. Don’t go overboard here. You should still see the sauce beneath the cheese. Add some freshly grated parmesan and a drizzle of good olive oil.

Transfer to your peel (very carefully) and slide into the hot oven directly onto the pizza stone. Bake for 7-9 minutes depending on your preference of crispiness. I like mine on the more crispier side, but you can dial it back if you want a softer crust.

Remove from the oven and finish with freshly grated pecorino and more olive oil. Here you can add basil, dried oregano, or chili flakes - however you like to dress it up. This is a great base to make all sorts of other pies too. Enjoy while it’s hot!

The Hack

Instead of cutting the pie up into 6 or 8 standard slices, my move is to cut one giant slice out of the entire pie, and just cut up the edge pieces in whatever way works for you. Those are perfect for little ones. What’s left is a giant, beautiful, NY Style slice.

Brik with Wild Spring Greens & Morel Mushrooms

Brik is a popular north African street food with many different regional variations. The version I’ve come to love are commonplace in Tunis, where my dad spent the first 14 years of his life. It wasn’t until more recently that I truly realized how special they are. Tumeric spiced potatoes, capers, chopped onion, and a whole egg packed into a delicate pastry dough, fried until crispy, topped with some harissa or fermented bomba paste and a squeeze of lemon. They are deeply satisfying. Crunchy on the exterior and velvety on the inside.

The version here layers in some freshly foraged ramp leaves and morels - but any sort of fresh herbs or greens (think nettles, wintercress, spring onions, etc) would work really well in this format. The recipe here features a homemade pastry dough - mixed together like a crepe batter and painted onto a nonstick pan on a double boiler. If you don’t want to make a fuss, any store bought spring roll wrappers work really well too.

Recipe as follows and video of the whole process below.

The Pastry Dough (Warqa)

Ingredients

100 g 00 Flour

150 g semola flour (or similar)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

450 g room temperature water

*makes about 10 8” circles

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and whisk together until there are no clumps. You can use a food processor for this step as well.

2. Cover and allow to rest for 1 hour.

3. Set a non stick pan over a pot of boiling water to create a double boiler.

4. Lightly coat the surface with olive oil. This step is important and you’ll want to ensure the surface is clean and oiled before each time you make a sheet of dough.

5. Using a brush, “paint” on a thin layer of the batter across the entire surface. Work quickly and make sure there are no holes as you go. The batter will quickly start to solidify on the hot pan. After about 3 - 4 minutes the dough should be ready. Use a spatula or utensil to peel the dough away from the edges of the pan, carefully remove the pastry dough and transfer to a clean work surface to air dry. Repeat the process until all the batter is gone.

6. After air drying, they can be stacked and if done properly they will not stick to one another. Wrap in a clean towel and set aside until ready to cook.

The Brik

Ingredients

About 6 medium yellow potatoes (peeled)

1 tbsp tumeric powder

1 tsp salt

About 6 - 8 ramp leaves (or finely diced red onion)

8 oz of fresh morels (or similar mushroom)

2 tbsp chopped capers

1/4 cup good olive oil

Directions

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and boil the potatoes until fork tender (about 20 minutes).

2. Drain and set aside to cool.

3. In a medium skillet saute the diced morel mushrooms in some olive oil. They will reduce in size significantly as they cook. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 10 minutes until they start to form a nice brown color. Add chopped ramp leaves and saute for a few minutes until the mixture is well incorporated and fragrant.

4. Mix the ramps and morels with the potatoes and use a fork to smash it all together.

5. Add the capers, tumeric, and olive oil, a little salt and pepper and continue mashing.

6. The mixture should be slightly chunky and glistening with the olive oil. Here you can add some harissa to the mixture if you like it spicy.

7. Bring a nonstick pan to medium heat and cover the bottom with olive oil.

8. On a clean plate, lay down a sheet of the pastry dough. On one half of the dough spoon on the potato mixture and carefully create a well in the center large enough to crack an egg in the middle and leaving room along the edges to fold over.

9. Brush on an egg wash along the edges, fold the circle in half, pressing the edges to seal and carefully slide the brik into the hot pan. Fry for about 3 minutes until crispy and golden brown. Using a spatula, carefully flip the brik over and fry the other side for another 3 minutes until golden brown.

10. Transfer to a paper towel lined dish to absorb excess oil and allow to cool for a few minutes before eating.

11. Serve with harissa, fermented bomba, and a squeeze of lemon.