Pies, prepared usually with meat, fish, and vegetables, were quite common in medieval and Renaissance banquets, from the most simple to multiple-layers preparations with a huge number of ingredients. They were considered a kind of stuffed pasta, as well as the green ravioli we have prepared recently.
Today we prepare a chicken pie selected from an anonymous southern-Italian manuscript, called Anonimo Meridionale, an excellent cookbook dating back to the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th. This pie is called torta levenexe, a word whose etymology is unclear. There are many variations of this recipe in other coeval manuscripts, with substantial changes.
The author does not give directions about the crust of the pie, considering clearly its preparation a well-known step, but we can find information in other medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, for example, that the bottom crust has to be thicker than the upper one.
It is not a quick recipe, but incredibly tasty and it is worth the time. Below, you will find a note about the ingredients and the original recipe with the translation into English. For the preparation of the pasta, we suggest watching the video in which we showed the method step by step. Enjoy!
If you want to know more about historical pies, read our book Early Italian Recipes. Cereals, bread, pasta, and pies, where you will find historical information about cereals and their preparations from the Antiquity to the end of the Renaissance, with 114 recipes for pasta, bread, pizza, pies, and more, newly translated and explained.
If you are interested in late-medieval cuisine, we recommend Libro de la Cocina. Medieval Tuscan Recipes and Registrum Coquine. A medieval cookbook. To learn about the transition between ancient and medieval cooking, check out De Observatione Ciborum, written by the physician Anthimus to the king of the Franks Theuderic. If you are interested in recipes for vegetables from the Antiquity to the beginning of the Modern Era in Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers available in English and Italian.
For information about ancient cuisine, read Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Recipes, Sources. Moreover, full translations of historical sources and articles on ancient and medieval cooking are available on Patreon.
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Ingredients
chicken
5 dates
raisins
lard
300 gr re-milled durum wheat semolina
spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, long pepper)
Method
Parboil the chicken for 30-40 minutes, depending on its size. It has to be not completely cooked but not raw.
In the meantime, pit and chop the dates, then pound coarsely the nutmeg in the mortar and grind finely long pepper and cinnamon. The cloves are used here whole, the author specifies.
Now, prepare the dough with flour, two pinches of sea salt, and warm water. Divide the dough into two parts, one bigger than the other. Roll a pasta sheet not too thin with the bigger part. It has to be larger than the pie plate.
Grease the pie plate with lard and place the bottom crust. Now, you can roll a thinner sheet, the same size as the pie plate, for the upper pie crust, cutting the excess parts.
Remove the chicken from the pot and let cool before deboning it, keeping the broth aside.
Melt a good quantity of lard in a pan, then add the chicken cut into pieces, two pinches of salt, the spices, and the dried fruit. Mix all the ingredients together and let them cook for ten minutes adding chicken broth.
Now you can fill the pie crust, covering it with the thinner sheet of pasta. Seal the pie moistening the edge of the crust with a little water to close it better, cutting the excess part if the bottom crust is too large.
Moisten the upper crust with a bit of water before the pie is completely cooked, sprinkling it directly or using a brush. We cooked the chicken pie in the oven for 30 minutes, but the cooking time changes depending on the size of the pie and the dough you prepared.
When it is done, plate and serve it still hot.
Note about the ingredients
The only mandatory spices are nutmeg and cloves. The author suggests adding the better spices we have. For this recipe, we chose two of the spices more used in this period, cinnamon and long pepper, but you can use the ones you prefer, for example, white or black pepper, fresh or dried ginger, cardamon, saffron, and cassia.
We used re-milled durum wheat semolina, an excellent flour to prepare pasta, but the anonymous author says nothing about the kind of flour. The best quality flour, according to the medical texts and the cookbooks, is the white one without bran, considered apter for the tables of nobles.
You can grease the cake pan with lard or extra virgin olive oil, as you prefer, or just slightly dust it with a little flour.
Original text
Se voy fare torta levenexe, mictice uno pollastro soffricto et taglialo et fale lessare et mictice dactari et uve greche et garofani integri et nuci moscate poco tritate con coltello et le melgliuri spetie che tu poy avere, et lu brodicto che te remane de quisti pollastri. Mictelo nella torta, et quando elio è presso che cocta, mictice con essa uno pocha de acqua, et fiet bona, et quella peccone ch’io non do quanto ne voglio.
Translation
To prepare the levenexe pie, make a soffritto with the chicken after having cut and parboiled it, adding dates, grapes, whole cloves, nutmeg slightly chopped up with the knife, the better spices you have, and the chicken broth. Fill the pie. When it is almost done, add a little water, and it will be good. And it’s a shame that I don’t serve this pie as much as I want.
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Books
Early Italian Recipes. Cereals, bread, pasta, and pies
Libro de la Cocina by Anonimo Toscano. Medieval Tuscan Recipes
Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers
De Observatione Ciborum by Anthimus. Early-medieval recipes at the court of the Franks.
Registrum Coquine by Johannes Bockenheim. A medieval cookbook
Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Sources, Recipes
Translations of Historical Sources
De Agri Cultura by Cato – first part (2nd century BCE)
De Re Coquinaria by Apicius (Ancient Rome)
Apicii Excerpta by Vinidarius (5th or 6th century)
De Observatione Ciborum by Anthimus (6th century)
Appendicula de Condituris Variis by Johannes Damascenus (8th or 9th century)
De Flore Dietarum (11th century)
Tractatus de Modo Preparandi et Condiendi Omnia Cibaria (13th or 14th century)
Liber de Coquina – first part (14th century)
Enseignemenz (14th century)
Opusculum de Saporibus by Mainus de Maineris (14th century)
Libro de la Cocina by Anonimo Toscano (14th century)
Anonimo Veneziano (14th century)
Registrum Coquine by Johannes von Bockenheim (15th century)
Libro de Arte Coquinaria by Maestro Martino – parts 1-4 (15th century)
Recipes
Tuscan Chicken Soup with Unripe Grapes
Early-medieval Kohlrabi Stew
Tuscan Fried Leek Rings
Pork Ribs
Tuscan Pancakes with Wild Flowers
Hop Shoots
Shrimp – Savore de Gambari
Orange Frittata – Fritata de Pomerantiis
Tuscan Soup with Hen and Florence Fennel
The diet of the Franks – Celery Root and Beef Stew
Tuscan Fish Cakes – Salciccie di Pescio
Tuscan Stew with Pork Belly and Rutabaga
Pork and Onion Soup
Tuscan Radish Soup
The Diet of the Franks – Endive and Pork Jowl
Tuscan Fried Meatballs
The Diet of the Franks – Chicken Stew
Castagnazzi
Renaissance Stuffed Cucumbers
Pork Roast with Cherry Sauce
Renaissance Fried Tomatoes
Herbolata
The Diet of the Franks – Beef Stew
Fried Chicken Soup
Beef Roast with Garlic Sauce
Bread Soup
Salted Meat and Peas
Baghdadi Rice Cream
Chicken with White-Pepper Sauce – Piperatum Album
Indian Chickpeas and Meat
The Diet of the Franks – Pork Stew
Chestnut and Mushrooms
Lentils with Oregano and Watermint
Egyptian Bread with Pistachios and Almonds
Veal with Fennel-Flower Sauce
Pork Roast with Green Sauce
Eggs Poached in Wine
Brodium Theutonicum
Crispellae – Pancakes with Saffron and Honey
Brodium Sarracenium – Chicken Stew
Fava Beans and Pork
Erbe Minute – Meatballs with Herbs
Lettuce and Pork Soup
Zanzarelli – Egg and Cheese Soup
Turnip and Beef Soup for Servants
Cheese Pasta – Vivanda Bona
Gratonata – Chicken Stew
Chickpea Soup with Poached Eggs
Apple Fritters
Hippocras and Claretum – Mulled Wine
Pastero – Pork Pie
10th-century Goat Roast – A Langobard at the Court of the Byzantine Emperor
Romania – A Recipe Between Arabic and Italian Tradition – Medieval Chicken with Pomegranates
Emperor’s Fritters
Medieval Pizza – The Origin of Pizza
Roast Chicken with Salsa Camellina
Sweet Rice
Afrutum or Spumeum – 6th-century Byzantine recipe
A Medieval Breakfast – Wine, Carbonata, and Millet Bread
Salviata – Eggs and Sage
Tria di Vermicelli
Cabbage Soup
Frittelle Ubaldine – Pancakes with Flowers and Herbs
Saffron Cheesecake
Drunken Pork – Early Medieval Pork Stew
Medieval Monk’s Stuffed-Egg Soup
Apple Pie
Onion Soup
Gnocchi
Lentils and Mustard Greens
Chicken soup – Brodo Granato
Turnip Soup
Beans and Bacon – Black-Eyed Peas
Prawn Pie – Pastello de Gambari
Foxtail Millet Polenta and Spit-Roasted Goose
Beef Stew
Blancmange
Leek Soup
Quail Stew with Coconut
Chicken Pie
Ravioli
Almond Cream
Red Mullet Soup
Spit Roast Beef with Arugula Seeds
Walnut Bread
Lasagna
Tripe
Fried Fish
Roast Lamb with Green Sauce
Clams
Sweet and Sour Sardines
Trouts with Green Sauce
Lamb Stew
Quails with Sumac
Chicken with Fennel Flowers
Sea Bream
Historical Italian Cooking 