Rustic rainbow cake

Beatriz, the author of the To Be Gourmet blog, makes our mouths water with a cake that you'll enjoy both hot and served cold. She followed one of the recipes found in a book known to all lovers of Italian gastronomy, The Silver Spoon. Enjoy this delicious cake!

Italian cuisine is much more than pasta and pizza. Last year Italy was the guest country at the San Sebastián Gastronomika congress and I had the opportunity to see it for myself. Massimiliano Alajmo, Massimo Bottura and Niko Romito offer incredible cooking with that Mediterranean inspiration that makes their cuisine so appealing.

So when I learned of the existence of the book The Silver Spoon, “Il cucchiaio d’argento”, known as the bible of authentic Italian cooking, I immediately knew that sooner or later it would become part of my culinary library. This book includes more than two thousand recipes and is a true source of inspiration. It also includes a section with authentic recipes from renowned chefs, like the first two mentioned.

Those are some of the reasons I love this great red book, and after making some of its recipes like this delicious “Torta rustica arcobaleno” or rainbow rustic tart, I know it will be one of those books that won't stay on the shelf but will be permanently in my kitchen.

I love savory pies that can be prepared in advance and eaten warm or cold. The rainbow cake owes its name to its colorful ingredients. A delicious and very nutritious recipe.

Ingredients

300gr of flour
200 ml of dry white wine
One tablespoon of olive oil for the dough
300gr of spinach
25gr of butter
100 ml of heavy cream 35% fat
A small piece of Parmesan cheese
200gr of cooked ham
2 red peppers
2 yellow peppers
200gr of sliced cheese
1 egg yolk
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil

In the photo, boxwood-handled Pallarès knife and The Silver Spoon book

Preparation

First we'll roast the peppers, which in addition to taking time, must cool so we can peel and cut them into strips. So we wash and dry them, then coat them with olive oil and place them on a baking tray and put them at 150º until the skin is charred, (we turn them halfway through the process which can take about 45 minutes).

We let them cool and start on the dough. For this we sift the flour, mix it with the white wine and a little salt, and begin to knead. If necessary, we add a little water so that in the end we have an elastic ball that doesn't stick to the hands.

We wrap it in plastic wrap and leave it in the refrigerator for thirty minutes. Meanwhile, in a Shallow Casserole, with a little water, we boil the spinach for about 5 minutes. We drain it, chop it to make it smaller, and sauté it another five minutes in a pan with butter. Then we add the cream and the grated Parmesan cheese, stir to incorporate everything well and season with salt.

We peel the peppers we had set aside and cut them into strips, separating them by color. For working at home I like the Pallarès iron knives, they stay sharp longer and work wonderfully.

We take the dough out of the fridge, divide it in two and roll out the first half. We place it over a tin. I have chosen a ceramic mold which I love for presenting at the table and it's very convenient not to have to transfer the cake to another plate, with the risk of it getting ruined when moved.

On the dough we place the cooked ham in slices, on it the spinach and on top a layer of pepper, for example the red one. On that another layer, this one of sliced cheese. The book recommends an Italian cheese which is Fontina, I have used the Edam variety and it works very well too. The next layer will be yellow pepper and then again another layer of cheese.

To finish we roll out the second part of the dough and cut it with the help of a knife into long strips over the cake to close it. In the recipe they place them interwoven, but I was a bit lazy and simply first placed one row and then another crossed over it.

To finish we brush the dough with beaten yolk so it gets a nice golden color and bake at 180º for about 45 minutes.

A delight!

Beatriz