Our Recipes Italian savoury Easter cake

Ingredients for the filling/topping

100g grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, 8 eggs, 2 shallots, butter, marjoram, nutmeg, extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper

Recipe:

After sifting the flour, mix it together with two spoonfuls of oil, a little salt and some tepid water. Work the dough until it becomes soft and elastic. Divide into 10 equal pieces, cover it with a kitchen towel and leave it to rest for around an hour. In the meantime, carefully clean the greens, and leave them to simmer in boiling water. Once boiled, take them out of the water, drain them, and them chop them finely with a mezzaluna knife.
In a non-stick pan, fry the shallots in a little oil, and add the beet tops. Leave them to absorb for a few minutes, with a little salt and pepper, in a separate pan, stir it all together gently with a little marjoram, two eggs, and 50grams of grated Parmesan. In a deep pot, work the ricotta with a spoon together with two eggs, the remaining grated Parmesan, a little salt and nutmeg until it has a creamy consistency.
Add the ricotta paste to the beet tops mixture, and mix it gently together. Next, prepare the pastry. Take the 10 pieces of pastry, and roll them with a rolling pin into very fine sheets. Place the first sheet on a deep high-sided baking tray, which has been well buttered and covered in flour, and stick it tight to the sides of the tray, and brush it with the oil. Do the same for the next four sheets, placing one on top of the other, and brushing each one in turn with the oil. Tip the freshly prepared filling in, and with a spoon, make four holes - into each one, break an egg (you can always use a hardened egg as well).
Cover the top of the cake with a little grated cheese, a little salt and pepper and the marjoram, and proceed to cover it: prepare the other five sheets of pastry, placing one on top of the other with a brushing of oil on each in turn. Cut away the excess dough, and fold the remaining part back towards the centre of the baking tray, creating a sort of drawstring that seals all the pastry. Slightly wet the surface with a mix of oil and water, pierce the top with a fork, and bake the cake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 45-50 minutes, until it appears browned and crunchy on top. Serve your savoury Easter cake cool and sliced.