Easter, pastiera and cheese breads

Cheeses for Easter, pastiera and cheese breads

Easter Sunday brings dairy back to the centre of the table after Lent. In Naples the cake of the season is pastiera, a tart of ricotta, cooked wheat, eggs, candied peel and orange-flower water, baked in the days before Easter so the flavours settle. In Umbria and the Marche, Easter breakfast includes crescia, a tall bread enriched with pecorino and Parmigiano. In Poland a basket of food, including cheese, is blessed on Holy Saturday, and sernik is baked. Italian-American families buy basket cheese, a fresh cheese moulded in a wicker basket, for Easter pies.

The cheeses

RicottaThe creamy filling of the Neapolitan pastiera.PecorinoGrated into the Easter crescia of central Italy.TvorogTwaróg for Polish Easter sernik.Basket cheeseFresh Easter cheese of Italian-American kitchens.

More cheeses used for Easter, pastiera and cheese breads

🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreQuarkTvorog A fresh, acid-set cow's milk cheese with a smooth texture and mild taste.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh 🇸🇪 SwedenVästerbottenVästerbottensost A hard, salty Swedish cow's milk cheese aged at least a year in VästerbottenCow · Hard · Salty 🇨🇾 CyprusAnariαναρή A fresh whey cheese from Cyprus made from sheep or goat milk.Sheep · Fresh · Salty 🇮🇹 ItalyPrescinsêua A sour, semi-liquid cow's milk cheese from Liguria used in savory pies and focaccia.Cow · Fresh · Tangy and lactic 🇷🇺 Russia and 2 morePaskhaпа́сха A sweet, molded East Slavic Easter cheese made from tvorog and dairy.Cow · Fresh · Sweet and caramel