Torta Pasqualina

The torta pasqualina is documented as a Genoese dish from around the 16th century and later spread through Liguria. By tradition it was made with thirty-three wafer-thin sheets of pastry — water, flour, salt and Ligurian olive oil — one for each year of Christ's life; this count is best understood as legend, and modern versions use far fewer layers. The whole eggs baked into the filling are widely read as a symbol of rebirth fitting for Easter. As few households owned ovens, families once carried the assembled pie to the local baker, marking the crust to identify their own.

The crust shatters into many fine, oil-crisped leaves over a dense, savoury filling. The chard-and-ricotta interior is moist and mild, lifted by the resinous note of marjoram; the buried whole egg, just set with a soft yolk, is the prize of the slice. Warm, it is fragrant and yielding; at room temperature the layers stay crisp and the flavours settle. The classic fault is a soggy base, where the filling's moisture has gone unchecked and the bottom leaves never crisped.

The layered crust works like a rough puff: each oiled sheet bakes into a separate crisp leaf because the film of olive oil keeps the layers from fusing and steam lifts them apart in the oven. The filling must be kept relatively dry — the chard is wilted and squeezed, the ricotta often drained — or its water steams into the base and leaves it soggy. The whole eggs are cradled in wells so they set gently in the oven's heat to a just-firm white and a soft yolk; closing and baking the pie traps their steam, helping cook them through without overcooking.