Castel Vittorio is an ancient medieval village that has dominated the Val Nervia from above since the 12th century. We are in the backcountry of Ventimiglia, on the border with France.
The locals here are very proud not only of their past, full of conquests and sieges, but also of their agricultural products from the mountains (including their notable EVO oil) and their culinary traditions.
In particular, they are very proud of a gigantic vegetable pie that has always been baked in a wood-fired oven directly on the stone slab, without a baking tray, and which was registered in 2007 as De.Co, Denominazione Comunale di Origine, to certify its historical link with the place.
This is the Tortun di Castel Vittorio, a Ligurian vegetable pie, but a bit unusual.
In fact, it is prepared with a single large disc of very thin unleavened dough (instead of many layers), which folded over itself encloses a filling of local zucchinis cut into very small cubes and placed strictly raw in the baking tray (in winter, field herbs are used), mountain potatoes, a handful of rice, and a bit of local cheese (Tuma of the valley, not easy to find outside the area).
The zucchinis that grow in Castel Vittorio are somewhat special because they are very large, light green, sometimes white. Similar to pumpkins, they need to be hollowed out, and the seeds removed before being cut. But the pie turns out great with any type of zucchini, as long as it is seasonal and fresh!
Every year in August, Castel Vittorio hosts the “Sagra del Tortun” with a culinary competition among housewives. Not to be missed! (check the date on the Proloco Facebook profile).
The recipe for Tortun di Castelvittorio
For the perfect success of this recipe, here are some small tips:
- Use only very fresh summer zucchinis, the small, light green, firm ones, maybe with the flower still attached. If you want to use Ligurian zucchinis, you can buy them online and receive them fresh at your home (in Italy and Europe) thanks to the online site Palatifini.it. You can buy both traditional Ligurian zucchinis and trumpet zucchinis!
- Pre-cook the rice very briefly, it will finish cooking inside the dough, absorbing the water released by the vegetables.
- Roll out the dough very thinly, but not too thin. There’s a risk it will burn before the filling is cooked.
- Trust me, there’s no need to blanch anything, the raw zucchinis and potatoes (cut very small) will cook wonderfully inside the dough.
- The Tuma cheese of the valley, unless you are from the far western Liguria, is difficult to find. You can replace it with another soft, lightly aged cheese.
Tortun di Castel Vittorio
Ingredients
For the dough
- 200 g 00 flour
- 100 ml water
- 1 tablespoon of salt
For the filling
- 30 g rice
- 500 g Zucchini
- 150 g fresh goat’s cheese
- 1 small potato
- 1 small blond onion
- 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the dough by mixing flour, water and oil for a long time until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough . Cover with cling film and leave to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- In the meantime, boil 30 g of rice and drain halfway through cooking.
- Clean the courgettes and potato and cut them into thin cubes. Finely chop the onion.
- Place the vegetables, raw, in a bowl. Add the rice cooked al dente, the cheese also cut into small cubes when possible, the Parmesan cheese, the egg and the oil.
- Mix well and season with salt and pepper.
- Take the dough, place it on a floured work surface and with the help of a rolling pin (and your hands) roll it out into a very thin sheet about 60 cm in diameter.
- Place the pastry sheet on a greased or lined baking tray (about 30 cm in diameter), letting the edges stick out. Pour the filling into the centre, make eaven press a little bit.
- Then fold the edges of the pastry sheet inwards until the filling is covered, creating regular folds.
- Brush the surface with EVO oil and bake for about an hour or until the surface of the pie is golden and crispy.
- Serve room temperature (the day after is even better!)
