Pasqualina (Little Easter)

Shared with recipegoldmine.com by Lior's Kitchen Talk

6 artichokes
1 small onion
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups ricotta cheese
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
2 packages puff pastry
5 eggs
Salt to taste

Clean the artichokes by first cutting off the stems, then remove the outer leaves and discard them. Now cut away the tender inner leaves and put them in a large bowl of cold water with lemon juice. With the leaves removed cut away the inner thorn and then slice the remainder of the artichoke into thin slices and put them in the bowl. Lastly, peel the stems with a vegetable.

In a pan heat the oil and add the onion thinly sliced, chopped parsley and the clove of garlic. Cook them for about 5 minutes then drain the artichokes well and add them. Continue cooking until the are done, about 20 to 30 minutes. Salt them to taste while cooking. Remove the garlic for the artichokes and set them aside to cool a few minutes while you prepare the rest.

Now roll out the puff pastry until it is nice and thin (a little thinner than a normal pie crust) and put it in a 9-inch springform pan. Roll it out so that it is big enough to come out over the top of the pan. Add the ricotta cheese and parmesan to artichokes and mix well. Now add the mixture to the spring form pan and spread in evenly.

With a spoon make five impressions in the mix. One in the middle and four around it. Put one raw egg into each of the impressions and sprinkle each one with a small pinch of salt. Roll out some more puff pastry to cover the pie and lay it on top. Now about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch above the filling, cut away the excess pastry. ten pinch the top and bottom together. Finally fold the pinch edge down so that it doesn't burn. Make a small slit in the crust, insert a straw and blow gently to lift the crust slightly. Repeat this three times in different places. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F for about 40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven when done and let it cool off before serving.