Torta Verde Genovese

Liguria is mountain and sea. The steep hillsides terraced with olive trees left little room for cattle, so the Genoese learned to make meat from vegetables. Their torte salate, savory pies filled with whatever the garden provided, became the centerpiece of every festa, every picnic, every workman's lunch wrapped in cloth and carried to the fields.

Torta verde requires one thing above all else: dry greens. Wet greens make a soggy pie, and a soggy pie is no pie at all. You must wilt the chard, drain it, squeeze it in a towel until not a drop of water remains, then squeeze it again. This is not optional. This is the foundation of the entire dish.

The crust is olive oil, not butter. Butter belongs to the north, to Emilia and Lombardy. Here in Liguria, olive oil is everything. It makes a crust that is tender, fragrant, and forgiving of imperfect technique. The filling should be thick with greens, bound just enough to hold together when sliced. Too many eggs and you have made a frittata in pastry. Too few and the filling crumbles.