This is a dough that you will love immediately. It is so easy and so quick!
Liguria is the italian region where we spend our summer holidays, it is a very narrow piece of land where sea and Alps almost touch.
There’s a lot of tourism mainly because it is the closest seaside to Milan and Turin so, in the summer, it is easy to find mammies or grandparents with kids that stay there for a long period while dads or parents reach them for the week ends.
Like every part of Italy, Liguria too has got its typical food.
This is the region where pesto and focaccia bread were born but also a lot of other delicious dishes, such as the torta verde (green pie).
Before the Internet era, I have been trying to make this pie at home but I was never happy with the dough.
It was never the same! The pies turned out good anyway but not what I wanted.
Then one day I visited my friend Barbara and she invited me for lunch. Her husband Marco, who originally comes from Liguria, had just made a pie using that dough, of which I learned the name in that occasion.
He gave me the recipe and I will always be thankful for that.
I use it every time I want to make a quick savory pie and also for sweet fillings.
Ingredients for Pasta Matta (Crazy Dough)
- 300 gr plain flour (I now use whole flour)
- 30 gr extra virgin olive oil
- 150 gr water
- 4 gr sea salt
Instructions for Pasta Matta (Crazy Dough)
Knead the dough with your hands until you’ll have formed a beautiful ball.
If you have time place the ball in a bowl and cover it with cling film paying attention not to touch the dough with the plastic (this is purely for healthy reasons, not for the result of the recipe) and let it rest for half an hour.
This passage is not strictly necessary, I have used it immediately a lot of times not compromising the result.
When you roll it you will notice that the consistency will be very smooth and incredibly elastic, and it won’t stick on your work surface.
The elasticity of this dough is unfortunately much stronger if you use plain flour but the result is still good with the whole one.
You need to roll it very thin, don’t worry it won’t break!
Oven temperature: 180°
Hi! Maggie! I spend so much of my young life in Ventimiglia, Bordighera and San Remo. Every morning I bought a slice of torta verde for my breakfast! Your recipe is absolutely as I remember it! Thank you so much! I never imagined ever eating this delightful little pie again!
Hi Nova, sorry it took me so long to reply, I can’t tell you how happy your comment made me. Thank you