How to Make Pasqualina

History & Present

Pasqualina is known in many cultures besides Italian. It’s
been relegated to the frozen aisles as a pot pie, but historically was much
more highly regarded. This
article from NPR gives a great history of the Pasqualina/pie.

The version that I’m going to show you today is not
traditional in that its interior is created from all vegetarian goods. However,
you can easily switch up the ingredients with a more traditional meaty fare.

You Will Need

1. Pasqualina dough. This can be purchased or made. I’ve always found it much easier to purchase a good pie dough from the grocery store rather than make it from scratch.
2. Chard. This is the basic stuff of the recipe, and you can substitute spinach or even meat instead. Buy two chards – they look huge but they shrink after boiling.
3. Other Ingredients. Here, I used 2 Boca Chicken patties, about 5 medium sized artichoke hearts, a small onion, a 1/2 red pepper, some Gouda cheese, and some green olives.
4. Outside of dough. Use some egg whites or butter for the outside of the dough to give it a nice brown look while cooking.

Cook & Prepare the Ingredients

Start to boil the chard. Meanwhile, chop up the onion & cook on a skillet and start the oven for the Boca.

After preparing the chard, chop it into small pieces about 1 inch square. Place the chard in the center of the bottom crust, leaving about 1/2 to 1 inch of empty space around the outside of the crust.

You can place any of the other ingredients in any order on top of the chard. I prefer to layer the pasqualina with the artichoke strips (just peel off the skin and lay on the chard), then with olives (cut in half), hardboiled eggs (also cut in half), strips of red peppers, then sprinkle with the onions, and finally place strips of cheese on top.

Again, you can subsitute any of the above ingredients for whatever you’d like.

Final Work & Cooking

After getting all of your ingredients in the center of the pasqualina,
put a small amount of water (with your finger) over the bottom dough.
Then place the top dough on top and squeeze the two pieces together.
You can then make the diameter as decorative as you’d like (see the completed picture below for an example). Then paint the outside of the crust with egg whites or butter, and pierce the pasqualina through the top to allow the air to escape.

Cook according to the directions given on the crust, though I’ve found that 20-45 minutes at 400 works well, depending on the crust type.