Torta Rustica With Ricotta and Spinach Recipe (2024)

My grandmother was from northern Italy and made a very greens-intensive version of what she simply called "torta". It follows the same principles as this recipe but has two to three times more greens, no ham, and no mozzarella. She would often add about a cup of cooked rice, I think to give it a little body and absorb some liquid. Be sure to squeeze all the water out of the sauteed greens and chop it up before adding to the mix. Parmigiano Reggiano is key. Really delicious.

If you’re in a hurry and can’t make dough, how would you use puffed pastry instead, as your friend did?

1. you don't need a food processor for this. 2. if you cook the ham (saute) first you'll concentrate the flavor 3. drain the ricotta anyway for 15-30 min to get out the wet. it will only improve the final result

The dough recipe is essential to Pizza Chiena/Rustica. My family has been making Pizza Rustica/Chiena every Easter since coming to the USA from southern Italy. It's not supposed to be a quick recipe; it's a labor intensive ritual to celebrate a sacred holiday. In other words, it's a labor of love and tradition. If you want to use puff pastry then it's a different recipe and a different dish. There's plenty of good recipes out there using puff pastry. Just don't call it Pizza Rustica.

Ricotta is so wet, it is much better to use toma cheese (or basket cheese). If you can't find it, you can make it relatively easily. At the very least, if you have normal ricotta you should wrap it tightly in cheese cloth and let it sit in a strainer in the refrigerator overnight so it dries out a lot. It should be dry enough that you can slice it. The instructions in this recipe will still leave you with a wet, loose ricotta.

I love pizza rustica for three reasons– it looks spectacular, it's delicious at room temperature, plus the components can be made in advance. I use green chard, baby spinach and onion with finely chopped prosciutto cotto (Italian boiled ham) in a lard crust. Draining the ricotta and squeezing excess liquid out of the greens is essential. Don't be daunted by the size of the recipe– it can be scaled down easily.

Nothing like the pizza rustica I grew up with. Never spinach or sugar. Always had prosciutto, sausage and sometimes hard boiled eggs and of course ricotta and grated pecorino Romano cheese.

My guess would be: Roll out sheets of puff pastry and follow other instructions.

I used to buy this from a wonderful Italian deli in Little Italy in NYC. They called it Pizza Rustica. It was divine. Your recipe looks to be the closest to it I've seen. The only difference in their version was they used Prosciutto in place of regular ham. They also made an outstanding Prosciutto bread. I'm excited to give your version a try. Am sure it's delicious.

I bet you could make the lattice ahead on a piece of waxed or parchment paper, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate it flat ahead of time and just place it on top of your pie to bake. You can do the same with the bottom crust--pop it in the pie plate and form it, cover it and refrigerate. Then all you'd need to do is pour the filling in, set the top and bake.

My mom was famous for her Easter pies. Her grandparents were from Calabria and Basilicata. Ingredients were Ricotta, ham, sausage (dried in the oven first), hardboiled eggs and tuma (or basket) cheese. The ricotta had raw eggs mixed in as well as some parmesan and parsley. There was a small amount of sugar. She would make a pie for each person in the family with their initial on top made of rolled pie dough. Lucky friends would line up for them at Easter.

This is a showstopper Easter piece. I used a 9” springform and it was fine. I dried everything in sieves (mozz, ricott, sautéed chard). I chilled my doughs. For folks looking to swap in phyllo — try not to! This crust is such an elegant holiday pie and especially with lattice work. It’s lightly sweet while lemon zest is so delicate; don’t miss out. I was concerned I was embroiled in a boring fussy quiche. It’s so much more than that. Use your own with fave inclusions but the crust is a keeper.

You can use the filling without the meat for a Passover mina, layering the filling between matzot. Will definitely try it this year with egg matzot.

The recipe breaks down to three steps– make the pastry and refrigerate; make the filling and refirgerate; assemble and bake. You can do the first two steps days before, but it's best to roll the pastry, assemble and bake early in the day you're serving it. This is a dish intended to be served at room temperature.

Making the crust is totally worth it. I used the non food processor method. Intended to go for the lattice, but ran out of time - traditional two crust top with leafy vents worked fine! After reading other notes, chose to up the greens (whole 24oz bag of power greens) and skipped the mozzarella. I whisked the ricotta and egg together rather than blitzing in the food processor. The torta puffed beautifully, and was a lovely accompaniment to lamb chops. It was the star of the meal!

Help! I am inviting my son's family to Easter Lunch and I want to make this, but they don't eat eggs. I'm worried it will be a failure. Has anyone here ever made it without eggs? thank you.

Such a wonderful recipe; I've made it two weeks in a row and it's been an absolute hit with my family and friends. Some dough recipes don't turn out but this one is extremely easy to work with -- try it, don't sub store bought/puff pastry! The end result reminds me of a lasagna crossed with a quiche, and is surprisingly light tasting.One mod: I used a scant tablespoon of sugar and found that is the right amount for my taste -- still a hint of sweetness to balance out the salty / savory.

Made this for Easter--No ham to keep it vegetarian & doubled the amount of greens. Based on many notes, I let the ricotta drain overnight in the fridge. A LOT of liquid was drained off, so I highly recommend taking this extra step. I tend to be lazy and use store bought crust, but this time I did make this crust, and WOW! If you have a food processor, it take almost no time at all, and the lemon zest is the perfect complement to the filling.

Fresh ricotta from the Italian market. No need to drain. Crust so easy to work with. Even the lattice! Doubled the chard. No meat. Delicious!

I was short of mozzarella, and compensated with about a cup of feta, which I really very highly recommend. I forgot to spike the wine in the dough, and next time I will make the dough the day before. Otherwise, no changes, utterly wonderful, we loved it.

Has any one tried this with gluten free flour?

I made dough & filling the day before, tripled the amount of greens and used sun dried tomatoes instead of ham. An impressive looking dish. I’d never done a woven pie crust. This recipe made it easy. Dough was easy to handle especially to repair places that got too thin. BUT there is no dough to spare — I ended up using every little bit.Finally, you can actually have up to 1/4” gaps when you lay down the strips for the top and then gently press everything together to close the gaps. Easy.

This time I used what was in the pantry - 2 baby bok choy and a package of Trader Joe's frozen (thawed) spinach - sauteed to remove moisture as suggested, plus diced Italian salami. The pastry is a bit too wet, but the Torts is very delicious!

If I were to make this again I would roll the dough out on a sheet pan. ( I like the dough. Lemon is good) Maybe make double. There is way too much filling for even a small slice. I’m eating it because there is so much, and I hate to waste food ,but it would be great for a party with thin squares.

I made this for the first time to take to a book club meeting. Five ounces of spinach practically disappears once it has been sauteed; so I doubled that. Instead of 1/2 cup of diced ham, I added 1 cup of fully cooked Italian chicken sausage. The torta was not only beautiful but was also delicious and a big hit with the book club. Just a note, when fitting the crust into the springform pan, I only needed to push the dough about half way up the sides, not the whole way which I did originally.

Could you make this with only the bottom crust? Or would that totally change the dish?

I made Cashew Ricotta and it was perfect in this dish, because of how thick it is. I also subbed crisco for butter in the crust, and used a vegan parm, and no mozz. It wasn't totally vegan though, because I did include the eggs. It was more of a dairy free version. I think I could have done with even more greens. But it was delicious!!

I had leftovers of your skillet chicken with rhubarb and made this tort with the new filling. I added a half a brick of cream cheese and some grated Manchego and two eggs. It was really good. Wish I could post a photo.

Made with many of the suggestions: used Toma cheese (4 cups shredded), 1 cup Pecorino Romano, no mozzarella, 18 ounces of spinach (vs 5). Also used my go to crust, originally found in the 1950's on the back of a Wesson oil bottle. Way easier than anything with butter and turns out reliably!

I made this with a puff pastry crust, for added ease and deliciousness. No ham needed. And pack in even more greens if you have them.