Prescinsêua
Prescinsêua is a soft, fresh Ligurian curd with a gently tangy flavor. Also called quagliata genovese, it gives pansoti and vegetable pies a moist, creamy filling.
- The form
- A fresh, soft curd, not an aged cheese.
- In the kitchen
- Drain off excess whey when a filling needs to hold its shape.
Drain for the filling
Put the curd in a fine strainer over a bowl and let excess whey drain in the refrigerator. Combine it with cooled, well-squeezed greens; add the eggs and grated cheese required by the recipe.
A Ligurian fresh curd
Prescinsêua belongs to Ligurian dairy cooking, particularly the vegetable pies and filled pasta associated with Genoa. Its fresh acidity is part of its character; ricotta is a different dairy ingredient, even when used as a recipe alternative.
From pansoti to pasqualina
In pansoti, the curd binds chopped borage and chard inside thin pasta. In torta pasqualina it joins the greens beneath handmade pastry sheets, with whole eggs set into hollows in the filling.
Cook with it
Check the name and form
Look for prescinsêua or quagliata genovese sold as a fresh curd. Read the ingredients and storage directions; choose the fresh form for these fillings rather than an aged or flavored cheese.
Keep it refrigerated
Follow the package’s refrigeration instructions, date and guidance after opening. Keep the curd covered and return it to the refrigerator after measuring what the recipe needs.
