The Piedmontese Green Cake (Turta verda) is a typical dish from the Asti region, especially the city of Nizza Monferrato. It is a rice, herbs, and egg cake, usually consumed during the Easter lunch or found in the Easter Monday picnic basket.

Using gluten-free breadcrumbs, this recipe is also perfect for celiacs.

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Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Economical
Rest time: 1 Hour
Preparation time: 40 Minutes
Portions: 7 People
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Italian Regional
Region: Piedmont
Seasonality: Spring, Summer, All seasons

Ingredients

q.b. olive oil
3 oz onion (cleaned)
1 cup rice
19 oz chard, cooked, boiled (frozen)
3 eggs
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
7 oz smoked bacon (diced, optional replacement for lard)
1 sprig rosemary
10 leaves sage (small)
1 sprig chopped parsley
1 clove garlic (small)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground coriander
4 cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 quart water (for broth)
1 beef broth cube (heart of beef broth)
1 vegetable broth cube (heart of vegetable broth)
1 egg
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp milk
q.b. butter (to grease the baking pan)
q.b. gluten-free breadcrumbs (to coat the baking pan)
1 sprig rosemary (sprinkle needles on the surface of the cake)

Steps

For the preparation of this cake, I used blanched chard that I had frozen this summer. Once thawed, chop them very finely with a knife.
In a large pan, put some oil, sauté the cleaned and finely chopped onion, then add the rice and toast it.
At this point, add the finely chopped herbs, the chard, the spices, and mix everything well.
Cook the rice gradually adding the broth (I prepared it with one quart of water and two broth cubes), you might not need all the broth. The rice should be slightly al dente and brothy, it will take about 20/25 minutes to cook. At this point, turn off the heat and let it cool.
Once cooled, add 3 eggs, 2 tbsp of Parmesan cheese and mix well.
This step is absolutely optional. I added diced smoked bacon instead of lard which was used in the past. You can omit this ingredient if you wish.
Pour the mixture into a 10-inch diameter round baking pan greased and coated with breadcrumbs.
In a dish, beat the egg, milk, and Parmesan cheese. Pour over the egg mixture and sprinkle a few rosemary needles.
Bake at 356°F for about 50/55 minutes in the lowest part of the oven. Always do the toothpick test, the cake should be quite dry inside.