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Piemontese Savory Green Pie Recipe - Torta Verde

By Kyle Phillips, About.com

Frances writes, "My late father used to make, every Easter, a "pie" called "Torta Verde." This is a dish that originates in the Piedmont section of Italy, where he was born. It's made with chopped spinach, rice, eggs, Parmigiano cheese, and baked. I would love to have an idea of the proportions. Can you help with this?"
Here we go. To serve 6:

Prep Time: 60 minutes

Cook Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/4 pounds (1 k) tender wild greens (poppy, nettles (handle with gloves until you've
  • wilted them in the pot), spinach, collard greens, dandelion greens)
  • 2/3 cup (120 g) Vialone Nano or similar short-grained rice
  • An onion, minced
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 ounces (50 g) ground cured lard or pancetta
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon mixed ground spices (nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, mace -- you might want to reduce this a bit)
  • 3/4 cup freshly ground Parmigiano
  • Meat broth
  • Bread crumbs
  • Salt

Preparation:

Clean, wash, drain, and shred the greens.

Heat the oil and some of the butter in a pot and sauté the onion until it begins to turn gold but not so much that it browns, then add the garlic and cured ground lard and mix well. Now add the greens, check seasoning, cover, and cook them over a low flame until they're done, 10-15 minutes. When they are done add the rice and a ladle of broth, and keep cooking at a very low simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally lest the mixture stick down and burn. When 20 minutes are up, turn off the flame and let the mixture cool, then stir in the eggs, spices, and cheese, and check seasoning again.

Next, preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C). Butter a pan of a size such that the pie will be an inch or so high, dust it with bread crumbs, fill it with the mixture, dust the surface lightly with bread crumbs, and bake it for about 50 minutes. Slice it, and serve it cold.

The other recipe

Interested in the traditional savory Easter pie from Liguria? It's called Torta Pasqualina, and contains a great many eggs, to celebrate the arrival of spring.

Yield: 4-6 servings Piemontese Savory Green Pie.
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