Vegan Ligurian Chard and Herb Pie, Reinterpreted | Torta Verde Ligure Vegana Rivisitata
Torta verde is the green savory pie of Liguria: a filling of chard, wild herbs and a little rice, closed between sheets of pastry so thin they become transparent, baked until the top is crisp and blistered. It belongs to the great Ligurian family of torte di verdura, the vegetable pies that fed farmers, fishermen and sailors along the whole Riviera. The traditional filling is set with eggs and seasoned with grated Parmigiano Reggiano; this recipe is a vegan reinterpretation that binds it with chickpea flour, the flour of the Ligurian farinata, and seasons it with toasted pine nuts, marjoram and a lemony cashew cream. The result is a pie that slices cleanly, holds its shape at room temperature and tastes of greens, herbs and olive oil above everything else.
Yield: 8 servings, one 10 inch (25 cm) pie. Prep: 1 hour 15 minutes. Cook: 55 minutes. Rest: 30 minutes for the dough, 20 minutes after baking. Course: antipasto. Region: Liguria.
The Story
Liguria is a narrow arc of land between the Apennines and the sea, with very little flat ground. For centuries its people built terraces on the steep hills to grow olives, vines and vegetables, and they gathered wild herbs from the edges of the paths. With little pasture and few cattle, the Ligurian kitchen was built on vegetables, herbs, olive oil and flour, and the torta di verdura, a vegetable filling baked in thin pastry, became one of its pillars. Every valley had its own version: with chard, artichokes, zucchini, leeks, pumpkin or potatoes.
The most famous of these pies is the torta pasqualina of Genoa, the Easter pie made with chard or artichokes, fresh cheese and a generous number of eggs baked whole inside the filling, traditionally under many layers of very thin dough. The everyday torta verde is simpler. In the Riviera di Ponente and in the hills behind it, the green pie is often filled with chard, borage and other greens, sometimes with rice or potatoes, and baked in large round trays to be eaten warm or cold, sliced into wedges or squares. It travels well, which made it the food of field work, fishing boats and Sunday outings.
The pastry is the signature of every Ligurian torta. It is made only with flour, water, olive oil and salt, no fat from animals and no yeast, and it is rolled and stretched until it is thin enough to read through. In the oven it does not puff like puff pastry: it dries and crisps into thin, brittle layers that crackle under the knife. That dough is vegan by nature, and it is the reason this pie translates so naturally into a plant version.
The filling is where the tradition is not vegan. Ligurian green pies are usually bound with a mixture of eggs and enriched with grated Parmigiano Reggiano and, in the Genoese area, with prescinsêua, a soft, slightly sour fresh cheese. This reinterpretation replaces each element with a plant ingredient that does the same job: chickpea flour mixed with water sets in the oven exactly like eggs and adds a nutty flavor familiar to Ligurians from farinata; toasted pine nuts and nutritional yeast bring the savory depth of the cheese; a cashew cream with lemon gives the gentle acidity of prescinsêua. The greens, the herbs, the oil and the pastry stay exactly as they are.
Ingredients
Choose Swiss chard with crisp stems and glossy leaves; the leaves go into the filling and the tender part of the stems adds sweetness and texture. Borage is traditional in Liguria; if you cannot find it, use more chard and a handful of spinach. Fresh marjoram is the herb of Ligurian cooking and it must be fresh, never dried. Use a delicate, fruity extra virgin olive oil, such as the Riviera Ligure DOP, made largely from Taggiasca olives, for both the pastry and the filling. Buy fine chickpea flour, pale yellow and fresh, and pine nuts with a sweet smell, never rancid.
For the olive oil pastry
All purpose flour, 3 cups (375 g)
Fine sea salt, 1 tsp (6 g)
Extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup (60 ml), plus more for brushing
Lukewarm water, about 3/4 cup (180 ml)
For the cashew cream
Raw cashews, soaked in cold water for 4 hours and drained, 2/3 cup (90 g)
Unsweetened soy milk, 1/3 cup (80 ml)
Lemon juice, 1 tbsp (15 ml)
Fine sea salt, 1/4 tsp (1.5 g)
For the green filling
Swiss chard, 2 lb (900 g)
Borage leaves or spinach, 8 oz (225 g)
Leek, white and light green part, thinly sliced, 1 medium, about 5 oz (140 g)
Garlic, peeled and finely chopped, 1 clove
Extra virgin olive oil, 3 tbsp (45 ml)
Arborio or Carnaroli rice, 1/3 cup (65 g)
Fresh marjoram leaves, chopped, 2 tbsp (6 g)
Flat leaf parsley, chopped, 2 tbsp (8 g)
Pine nuts, toasted, 1/3 cup (45 g)
Nutritional yeast flakes, 2 tbsp (8 g)
Fine sea salt, about 1 1/4 tsp (7 g), and freshly ground black pepper
Nutmeg, freshly grated, 1 pinch
For the binder
Chickpea flour, 3/4 cup (90 g)
Cold water, 1 cup (240 ml)
Extra virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp (15 ml)
Preparation
Step 1
Make the pastry. Mix the flour and salt in a bowl, add the olive oil and most of the water and stir with a fork until shaggy, then knead on the counter for 8 to 10 minutes, adding the rest of the water only if needed, until the dough is smooth, soft and elastic, like an earlobe. Divide it into two pieces, one slightly larger, shape them into balls, brush them with oil, cover them and leave them for at least 30 minutes at room temperature. Long kneading develops the gluten that lets the dough stretch paper thin, and the rest relaxes that gluten, so the sheets do not shrink back when rolled.
Step 2
Make the cashew cream. Blend the soaked cashews with the soy milk, lemon juice and salt for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides, until completely smooth and thick, like sour cream. Taste it: it should be mild with a clean, light acidity. Refrigerate it until needed. The cream replaces the fresh cheese of the tradition, and its acidity lifts the earthy taste of the greens.
Step 3
Prepare the greens. Separate the chard leaves from the stems. Keep the tender upper part of the stems and slice it 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick; discard the tough base. Wash the leaves and the borage in plenty of cold water and drain them. Cook them in a large pot of salted boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes, just until wilted, then lift them into iced water, drain and squeeze them hard by the handful until no more water comes out. Chop them coarsely with a knife. Squeezing is the most important part of the filling: water left in the greens turns into steam in the oven and makes the bottom pastry soggy.
Step 4
Cook the base of the filling. Warm 3 tbsp (45 ml) of olive oil in a wide pan over medium low heat, add the leek, the sliced chard stems and a pinch of salt and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and sweet but not colored. Add the garlic for the last minute. Add the chopped greens and stir for 3 to 4 minutes, until the pan is dry and the greens are glossy with oil. Transfer to a bowl and cool for 15 minutes. Cooking the greens in oil after blanching removes the last moisture and gives them a rounder, sweeter taste.
Step 5
Finish the filling. Whisk the chickpea flour with 1 cup (240 ml) of cold water and 1 tbsp (15 ml) of olive oil until smooth, with no lumps. Add it to the cooled greens with the raw rice, marjoram, parsley, pine nuts, nutritional yeast, nutmeg, about 1 1/4 tsp (7 g) of salt and plenty of pepper, and stir well. Fold in half of the cashew cream. The filling should be thick but spoonable. The raw rice absorbs the moisture released by the greens during baking and swells into soft grains; the chickpea batter sets above 175°F (80°C) and binds the filling into firm, clean slices.
Step 6
Roll and stretch the pastry. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C) with a rack in the lower third. Oil a 10 inch (25 cm) round pan, about 2 inches (5 cm) deep. On a floured counter, roll the larger piece of dough into a thin circle, then lift it over the backs of your hands and stretch it gently from the center outward until it is almost transparent and about 16 inches (40 cm) across. Lay it in the pan, letting the excess hang over the edges. A thin sheet bakes crisp all the way through; a thick one stays pale and doughy under the filling.
Step 7
Assemble the pie. Spread the filling evenly in the pastry case and level the surface. Make six shallow hollows with the back of a spoon and put a spoonful of the remaining cashew cream into each one. Roll and stretch the second piece of dough in the same way and lay it over the filling. Trim the overhang to about 1 inch (2.5 cm), then roll the two edges together toward the inside to form a thick, sealed rope around the rim. Brush the top generously with olive oil and prick it in a few places with a fork, so steam can escape without bursting the pastry.
Step 8
Bake and rest. Bake the pie for 50 to 55 minutes, until the top is deep golden, blistered and crisp, and the bottom sounds hollow when you tap the pan. Brush the top with a little more oil halfway through. Let it rest on a rack for at least 20 minutes before cutting. During the rest the chickpea binder finishes setting and the steam inside settles; cut straight from the oven, the filling runs and the slices collapse.
Plating
Torta verde is at its best warm or at room temperature, never piping hot, when the flavors of the herbs and the oil are clearer and the slices hold their shape. Cut it with a serrated knife, using a gentle sawing motion so the brittle top cracks cleanly instead of shattering, into 8 wedges for an antipasto or into small squares for an aperitivo.
Place each wedge slightly off center on a room temperature plate, so the green cross section faces the guest. Add a thin thread of raw extra virgin olive oil along the cut side, a few fresh marjoram leaves and, if you like, a small salad of bitter leaves dressed with lemon. The guest can eat it with a knife and fork or, in the Ligurian way, by hand.
Professional Technique
The key number is the water in the greens. After blanching and squeezing, 2 lb (900 g) of raw chard and 8 oz (225 g) of borage should weigh about 1 lb (450 g). If they weigh much more, squeeze again. This ratio decides whether the filling sets firmly and the bottom pastry stays crisp.
The hidden variable is the chickpea batter. Chickpea flour behaves like eggs only when it is fully hydrated and well distributed; lumps of dry flour stay raw and bitter. Whisk it with cold water until perfectly smooth before adding it to the greens, and make sure the greens are no longer hot, or the batter starts to thicken in the bowl and does not spread evenly.
The doneness test is double. The top must be a deep golden color with dark blisters, and a thin knife inserted in the center for 5 seconds must come out hot and clean, with no wet batter. A pale pie may look ready at 40 minutes, but the bottom is still soft; Ligurian pies need the full time.
Moisture Control
Moisture comes from three sources in this pie: the greens, the leek and the cashew cream. Each one is controlled at a different step. The greens are blanched, squeezed and dried in the pan; the leek is cooked slowly until its water has evaporated; the cream is thick enough to sit in its hollows without spreading. A filling assembled with care should leave no liquid on the bottom of the bowl.
The rice is the safety margin. Raw rice absorbs liquid as it cooks in the oven, so any small amount of moisture left in the greens is captured by the grains instead of reaching the pastry. Use a risotto rice, such as Arborio or Carnaroli, because its starch absorbs well and stays tender; long grain rice stays hard and separate.
The pan and the oven protect the bottom crust. Use a metal pan, which conducts heat faster than glass or ceramic, and bake in the lower third of the oven, close to the heat source. The bottom pastry must be crisp enough to hold a slice in the hand without bending.
Professional Mise en Place
The pie has several components but each one is simple, and most can be prepared hours ahead. Organize the work so the greens are squeezed and cooled before the pastry is stretched.
Equipment and tools
10 inch (25 cm) round metal pan, about 2 inches (5 cm) deep
Large pot, bowl of iced water, colander, kitchen scale
Wide sauté pan, mixing bowls, whisk, blender
Rolling pin, pastry brush, serrated knife, cooling rack
Prepared ahead
Cashews soaked for 4 hours and blended into cream, up to 2 days ahead
Pine nuts toasted in a dry pan until golden, then cooled
Greens blanched, squeezed and chopped, up to 1 day ahead, refrigerated
Pastry dough made and rested, up to 4 hours ahead, covered
Service setup
Pie rested at least 20 minutes, cut to order with a serrated knife
Plates at room temperature
Extra virgin olive oil in a small jug, fresh marjoram leaves
Small bitter leaf salad dressed at the last moment
Chef Tips
Stretch the pastry with the backs of your hands, not your fingertips. Fingertips poke holes; the backs of the hands spread the weight and let the dough thin out evenly from the center. If a small hole appears, patch it with a scrap of dough moistened with water.
Change the greens with the season, as Ligurian cooks do. In spring use chard, borage and wild herbs; in summer replace part of the greens with grated zucchini, salted and squeezed; in autumn use pumpkin roasted and mashed with a little rice. Keep the same weight of drained vegetables and the same binder.
Toast the pine nuts only until light golden and let them cool on a plate, never in the hot pan. Pine nuts burn in seconds and a single dark one makes the whole filling bitter.
Bake the pie a few hours before serving. Like all Ligurian torte, it tastes better once it has cooled a little, when the filling has firmed and the herbs have had time to settle into the greens.
Common Mistakes
Leaving water in the greens. Wet greens release steam that soaks the bottom pastry and makes the filling loose. Squeeze them by the handful until they are almost dry, then dry them in the pan.
Rolling the pastry too thick. Thick dough stays pale and chewy and hides the filling. Stretch it until you can see your hands through it.
Skipping the rest of the dough. Unrested dough fights back and tears when stretched. Leave it at least 30 minutes, covered and oiled.
Lumpy chickpea batter. Dry lumps stay raw and bitter in the baked filling. Whisk the flour with cold water until smooth before adding it.
Using dried marjoram. Dried marjoram tastes dusty and medicinal. Use fresh leaves, chopped at the last moment.
Baking on the top rack. The top browns while the bottom stays soft. Bake in the lower third of the oven, in a metal pan.
Cutting the pie straight from the oven. The binder has not set and the slices fall apart. Let it rest for at least 20 minutes.
Wine Pairing
Riviera Ligure di Ponente Pigato DOC: The white of the western Riviera, with aromas of Mediterranean herbs, white peach and a slightly bitter, savory finish. It comes from the same hills as the torta verde, and its herbal notes meet the marjoram and the greens. Serve it at about 50°F (10°C).
Cinque Terre DOC: A white from the steep terraces above the sea of eastern Liguria, based on Bosco, Albarola and Vermentino, with a fresh, saline character. Its crisp acidity cleans the olive oil from the palate and its minerality suits the chard. Serve it at about 50°F (10°C).
Rossese di Dolceacqua DOC: A light, fragrant red from the far west of Liguria, with notes of wild strawberry, rose and spice and soft tannins. Its lightness and freshness make it one of the few reds that suit a vegetable pie without covering it. Serve it slightly cool, at about 57°F (14°C).
Vermentino di Gallura DOCG: The Vermentino of northeastern Sardinia, from granite soils, fuller than the Ligurian whites, with notes of citrus, almond and Mediterranean scrub. Its body supports the pine nuts and the cashew cream, and its finish echoes the herbs. Serve it at about 50°F (10°C).
Storage & Reheating
Refrigerator: wrap the cooled pie or the leftover slices in parchment paper and keep them in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The pastry softens slightly in the cold. Freezer: the baked pie freezes well for up to 2 months, wrapped tightly in single slices; thaw it overnight in the refrigerator. The unbaked pie does not freeze well, because the greens release water into the raw pastry as they thaw.
Reheat the slices in the oven at 350°F (175°C) for 10 to 12 minutes, directly on the rack or on a preheated baking sheet, until the pastry is crisp again and the center is warm. Avoid the microwave, which turns the pastry soft and chewy. Let the slices rest for 5 minutes before serving and finish with a thread of raw olive oil.
Nutrition
Per serving, based on 8 servings:
Calories: 390 kcal
Total Fat: 19 g
Saturated Fat: 3 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Unsaturated Fat: 16 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 640 mg
Total Carbohydrates: 45 g
Fiber: 6 g
Total Sugars: 4 g
Added Sugars: 0 g
Protein: 12 g
Principal micronutrients: vitamin K, vitamin A, magnesium, folate, iron, vitamin E
These figures are estimates, calculated on the quantities listed and rounded to the nearest whole number, assuming that only part of the blanching salt stays in the greens. They vary with the size of the chard and the amount of oil absorbed by the pastry.
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