Torta Pasqualina

Torta Pasqualina is Genova's great Easter pie — though in truth, we eat it year-round. It's a tall, golden pie made with many thin layers of pastry (traditionally 33, one for each year of Christ's life), filled with artichokes (or chard), ricotta, and whole eggs nestled inside so that when you slice it, you see perfect circles of egg yolk.

Making it properly is an art. Each layer of pastry must be stretched by hand until it's tissue-thin and brushed with olive oil. The filling of artichokes (in spring) or Swiss chard (the rest of the year) is seasoned with marjoram — the herb that defines Genovese cooking.

The whole eggs are the signature touch: you create small wells in the ricotta filling and crack whole eggs into them before closing the pie with the top layers of pastry. When baked, the eggs set perfectly — soft yolks surrounded by the creamy filling.

You'll find torta Pasqualina in bakeries and rosticcerie across Genova — look for it in a traditional sciamadda (the old Genovese fry-shops), such as Sa Pesta, tucked in the alleys and a temple of Genovese vegetable pies, or Antica Sciamadda in the old town, which makes savoury pies the old way.

It's traditionally eaten at room temperature, cut into thick slices. It makes a perfect picnic food, which is why you'll see Genovese families bringing it to the beach, to the park, on train rides. It travels well and tastes even better when eaten outdoors.