Torta di Pasqua al formaggio

Easter cake, also known as cheese pizza, is a savoury delicacy widespread throughout Umbria and prepared for the Easter holidays. This recipe has several variations depending on the areas where it is prepared, including a sweet version, which is less common and probably more modern than the cheese version.

The origins of the Easter cake are so ancient that the Romans were already preparing something similar: Cato the Censor’s treatise on agriculture describes a bread made of cheese and eggs called libum, whose recipe is almost surprisingly reminiscent of cheese cake.

In the past, the preparation and consumption of the emblematic Easter food was subject to a series of strict prescriptions and prohibitions. Cheese pie or pizza was traditionally kneaded on Maundy Thursday, left to rise overnight, and baked the following morning. Once ready, given the sacredness of this food, it was absolutely forbidden to consume even a single bite until Easter Sunday.

The cheese cake preparation could only be started by the head of the house after the Easter bells were rung, at which point it could be eaten by the family gathered for breakfast, strictly accompanied by other foods related to the traditional breakfast including charcuterie such as salami, capocollo and prosciutto, boiled eggs and omelettes, and coratella. A real banquet cheerfully accompanied by a glass of wine, perhaps a structured white such as an aged Grechetto, or a red from the Colli del Perugino.

Start by mixing the flour, yeast dissolved in warm milk and salt in a bowl, then add the oil and lard (you can replace the lard with other fats such as butter, margarine and EVO oil). Beat the eggs in another bowl and add them to the mixture together with the grated and 1-2 cm diced cheeses. Mix very well until the dough is elastic and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Divide the dough into three parts and place them in moulds previously greased with lard. Let rest in a sheltered, warm place for 5-6 hours, until the dough reaches the edge of the mould.

Bake in a well-heated, static oven at 200°C for at least an hour (if the Easter cheese cake takes on too much colour on the surface, lower the oven temperature to 190°C).

Once cooked, take out of the oven and let the cheese cake cool before removing it from the mould.