Italian Easter Savoury Cake is a very rich and tasty cake. It is one of most fat food because it is full of calories but it is a one of the most appreciated in the Easter period.

This Savoury cake is called in Naples dialect ” Pizza Chiena” like full pizza because it was eaten the period after the long lent when you can start to eat more. It is prepared on Good Friday to be eaten from the next day until Easter Monday. This day in particular is called “Pasquetta” little Easter when in Italy is national holiday, all the people go out with family and friends for pic nick and they eat the left over Easter.


Italian Easter Savoury Cake has a dough similar to that of pizza and a delicious filling based on eggs, cheeses of various types.
A typically recipe came from the little town Avellino. It is made exclusively with eggs, cheese and the typical smoked salami produced in that area called “sopressata”.

I have nice memory from my family when I was child. The holy Thursday and Holy Friday they were a special days to getting ready for the coming Easter, not only spiritual but in the kitchen too. We were meeting to my grandmother’s sister house to prepare all traditional Savoury cakes and pies called Pastiera. It was fun for me to look all the preparation process. In particular, one thing, that was making all food special, was the oven used. It was a big oven in this old house that was built in a stone wall. It was a wood oven where the pies could be cooked slowly and take the nice flavor from the wood.

This cake is traditional for Italian Easter but you can make all year because it has easy Ingredients to find. It is a very good appetizers near a red glass of wine or for a pic-nic in the park. His tasty is better the day after.
The recipe is for two small 8 inch cake or 1 big 16 inch cake. l propose the basic recipes, you can add your favorite cheese or ham, salami type.


Pizza Chiena

Colomba pasquale (English: “Easter Dove”) is an Italian traditional Easter bread, the Easter counterpart of the two well-known Italian Christmas desserts, panettone and pandoro.

SHOP-ITALIAN-ONLINE
SHOP-ITALIAN-ONLINE. Amazon affiliate links included.
My Love Affair with Italian Easter Pastiera

Print Recipe
 Italian Easter Savoury Cake
Course side dish
Cuisine South Italy
Prep Time 1 Hour
Cook Time 1 Hour
Passive Time 3 Hours
Servings
People
Ingredients
Pizza dough
Inside ingredients
Course side dish
Cuisine South Italy
Prep Time 1 Hour
Cook Time 1 Hour
Passive Time 3 Hours
Servings
People
Ingredients
Pizza dough
Inside ingredients
Instructions
  1. Make the dough. Put the yeast in warm water with sugar in a cup and turn untill bubbles come up. Mix in a big bowl the bread flour, yeast, salt and olive oil, work with hands until the dough forms into a ball. If the dough is sticky, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a solid ball, have to be soft and elastic not hard. Add one tps water if is hard. Put in a large bowl cover with towel and wait between 2/ 3 hours. If the environment is warm take less time to increase, if is cold it will take more time. The dough have to become double of his size. Pass the time divide the dough in two parts.
  2. Start to stand roll out with a rolling pin until you make a circle little bigger than size of your oven pan
  3. On the oven pan put butter on the bottom or a baking paper and put slowly the sheet of dough
  4. Put same salami and ham and same beaten eggs
  5. Put all cheese and repeat with more salami and ham untill you don't finish all. Add the left eggs leave only 2 tsp for the top
  6. Make an other sheet of dough like before but smaller size to put in the top and with help of fork put the dough down from the edges of pan
  7. Continue with the fork to make small all so the air can go out from sovoury cake and it doesn't make bobble on top during cooking
  8. Put the left eggs and spread with your hand
  9. Put in the oven on 370 F for 1 hour. Same in close cake container or with plastic paper around so it not to much at air.
  10. Eat in 4 days