Torta Pasqualina

I know I have been silent for the last couple of weeks, not that I haven't been cooking and knitting up a storm but that thing called "work" has meant that I haven't had much time to update you on my cakery. Now to fill you in. When I was in Milan recently (I will shut up about Milan soon, I promise) we had a traditional Easter savoury tart called Torta Pasqualina. Yummy pastry filled with spinach and cheese. So when I had friends around for dinner a couple of weeks ago with a vegetarian being amongst the guests I decided to give it a go. After much Internet research I settled on a recipe that I felt would be doable and tasty (there were many different variations out there). What was common to all was the pastry or rather the layers of pastry. It turns out that it's not just one layer of pastry but several, it varied from recipe to recipe but it's at least five layers (top and bottom,with oil brushed between each one). The one I chose (see link above) stipulated seven layers but being a novice I wimped out and did five. I made the pastry with olive oil, flour and water and kneaded it for 10 minutes then divided it into 10 balls and left it to sit. I then proceeded to sit in the sun reading and generally feeling pretty good about how organised I was. It then got to 6pm (guests arriving 7.30pm, pie takes an hour to cook) and I was in a panic. So I started rolling, you have to roll each ball of pastry very thin (very thin) and big enough to cover the dish and hang over. At first I panicked but then got into a rhythm and although it took longer than expected I managed to get it in the oven in time, phew. The filling was easy really, spinach mixed with Parmesan, garlic, parsley and marjoram and put on the bottom of the pie. Then covered with ricotta and finally eggs broken into reservoirs, more Parmesan and then your five layers on top. I tell you it was worth the panic, it was a treat. I would re-think the pastry next time as it was a bit dry but that didn't stop people going back for seconds. Next time....Chocolate Fondant, finally!