Dreaming of foreign travel? For me, it’s Italy, but since I can’t be there at the moment, I’m inviting Italy to my Easter table.
In Italy, Easter is known as Pasqua and is the second most celebrated religious holiday after Christmas. After 40 days of fasting and abstinence during Lent, Easter menus across the country celebrate spring bounty.
While much of Italy celebrates Easter with a roast leg or shank of lamb, Rome and the Lazio region of Italy celebrate with family recipes for Easter Lamb Stew (Agnello Brodettato) featuring tender meat slow-simmered in white wine. Onions are sauteed with minced pancetta before browning the lamb. Slightly tricky, but worth the effort, is finishing the dish with a rich, luscious and unforgettable sauce made from egg yolks, pecorino Romano and lemon juice.
Easter Spinach Pie (Torta Pasqualina) is a timeless dish hailing from the Liguria region of northern Italy. The savory spinach pie is encased in layers of puff pastry, considered to be a representation of the 33 years of Jesus’ life. Rich ricotta cheese combined with chopped spinach and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano makes for a hearty dish. Hidden in the filling are four whole eggs which are beautifully revealed when serving a slice.
Nearly every region of Italy prepares its own version of Easter Bread (Pane di Pasqua). Colomba di Pasqua, similar to panettone but with candied fruits instead of raisins, is popular in the Lombardy region. Casatiello, popular in Naples, is a savory bread stuffed with salami, pancetta and cheese. Here I’m sharing the recipe for sweet and aromatic braided wreaths common at Easter in Umbria. Enriched with eggs, butter and citrus zest, they symbolize the crown of thorns, resurrection and new life and are a sweet treat at the table.
My love for Italy will be on full display this spring with these regional specialties.
RECIPES
These recipes for lamb stew, spinach pie and candied bread are regional Italian dishes served at Easter. While this holiday meal is often served at midday in Italy, these dishes are delicious for supper as well.
During the Middle Ages, eggs were prohibited throughout the Lenten season. Now, eggs appear in most Italian Easter recipes, symbolizing new life and rebirth.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Easter Lamb Stew (Agnello Brodettato)
Agnello Brodettato is featured on Easter tables in the Lazio region of Italy (west central Italy, including Rome). The white wine-simmered stew is finished by enhancing the liquid with egg yolks, cheese and lemon to create a piquant, silky and luxurious sauce.
If substituting bacon for pancetta, omit the olive oil in the first step.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Easter Spinach Pie (Torta Pasqualina)
Easter tables in the Liguria region of Italy (Genoa, Sanremo) feature this savory pie. Frozen puff pastry and frozen chopped spinach make this dish easy to assemble. For the prettiest presentation, press four equidistant wells into the filling for the eggs.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Italian Easter Bread (Pane di Pasqua)
This Easter bread (Pane di Pasqua) is a specialty of the Umbria region of Italy. It is made with a soft and fluffy sweet dough flavored with orange zest and vanilla braided into wreaths. Dyed Easter eggs are used to decorate the centers of each wreath, but are removed before eating.
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