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This Pizza Rustica is a delicious pile up of Italian meats and cheese, all blending together inside a flaky pastry crust. It's totally indulgent and just as good leftover as on day one. You've gotta give it a try.
Have you ever noticed that there are a few different religions that have periods of fasting or food restriction in the late winter? This is usually followed by a celebration feast around the start of Spring. Christians have Lent, followed by indulgent Easter celebrations? Baha'is have a 19 day feast leading up to Naw Ruz on the Spring Equinox. I'm sure there have been other examples throughout history. This pattern is probably not a coincidence.
In ancient times before modern farming, shipping, and refrigeration, food would have become increasingly scarce for our ancestors. The harvest that was stored around Samhain would have grown sparse. Fresh fruits and vegetables are few and far between. Even game would be hard to come by and lean when caught. So our ancestors turned this risk of starvation into a spiritual fast to conserve the last of the winter stores. Then when Spring finally arrived, they could celebrate abundance once again by finally eating to their heart's content. That's my theory at least.
What makes Pizza Rustica so awesome?
Pizza Rustica is probably more like a meat pie than what I might think of as a pizza. And this recipe is slightly adapted from Nigella Lawson's legendary book, How to Be a Domestic Goddess. I can't speak to its authenticity, but I can speak to its deliciousness. A flaky pastry crust completely encases a mixture of Italian meats and cheese all bound together with egg. It's flavor on flavor on flavor.
Of course, the ultimate nuances of the flavor will depend on the quality of the ingredients you work with. I can tell you that I used a mixture of grocery store and Italian deli ingredients, but if you're in the US, you can probably get most of what you need at your local supermarket. This is not a quick weeknight dish, but it's totally worth it to spend some time on a weekend getting this all together. The leftovers are freaking fantastic.
Make it magical
You can find the magical properties of some of the individual ingredients on the Kitchen Magick page. This recipe as a whole, though, makes for the perfect spell for indulgence. In my research, I discovered that Pizza Rustica is sometimes known as Easter Pie. Italians would make this the day before Easter, and then eat it the next day to celebrate the end of their Lenten austerity. And with a variety of rich and indulgent meats, cheeses, and egg, making this dish is the perfect opportunity to celebrate abundance. Give thanks for all the food you have available to you with each bite. Let it be a reminder that sometimes you have everything you need. (Source: Giolitti Deli)
Ingredients
Here's everything you'll need to make this recipe. The details are in the recipe card below.
- Flour - all-purpose or plain
- Butter
- Eggs - separated for some parts of the recipe, whole for others
- Salt
- Sugar
- Italian sausage
- Olive oil
- Ricotta cheese
- Provolone cheese
- Mozzarella - the fresh stuff packed in water
- Parmesan
- Garlic
- Parsley
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Prosciutto
- Mortadella
- Black pepper
- Breadcrumbs
- Milk
Tips for making Pizza Rustica
None of the individual steps are difficult, and this recipe has rustic in the name, so there's no need to be fancy with your technique. There are a lot of steps, though, so this dish does take some time. It' totally worth it to spend a little extra time in the kitchen on a work-free day, though.
We start by making the pastry for the crust. Do it in the food processor for speed and ease. This is a dry-ish pastry bound with egg yolk and water. Add your dry ingredients to your food processor and cut in your cold butter, then stream in the egg yolk and water until the dough starts to come together. Turn it out and bring it together with your hands, then divide it 60/40, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill while you get on with your filling.
You'll need to cook your Italian sausage first then add it to a mixing bowl. After that, all the filling ingredients, except the breadcrumbs, just get dumped into a big mixing bowl and stirred together. That parts pretty simple.
Assembling your pie
To make the pie, roll your dough out to cover and come up the sides of your springform pan. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the base of the pie, then pile in your filling and level it out. Roll out your second bit of pastry to cover it all up and pinch the edges to sea. Brush the whole thing with an egg and milk wash, then pop it in the oven.
Once it's golden brown and all melty on the inside, let it sit on the counter to cool for up to 30 minutes. You can eat this warm rather than piping hot if you prefer. It's also great leftover and could even be eaten cold like a quiche.
FAQ
Feel free to improvise based on what you have available in your area. Just keep the weights roughly the same, and you'll be fine. It all gets smooshed together, so there's nothing to worry about.
Pizza Rustica is indulgent and delicious. Let us be a reminder of the amazing abundance available to us. May we enjoy every bite.
Looking for more awesome Italian-inspired dishes? Try this Whipped Ricotta or some Spaghetti & Sausage Meatballs.
PrintPizza Rustica
This Pizza Rustica is a delicious pile up of Italian meats and cheese, all blending together inside a flaky pastry crust. It's totally indulgent and just as good leftover as on day one. You've gotta give it a try.
- Prep Time: 45
- Cook Time: 55
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 1-⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
For the filling
- 4 ounces Italian sausage, casing removed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces ricotta
- 2 ounces provolone, shredded or cut into small cubes
- 4 ounces fresh mozarella, cut into cubes
- ¼ cup grated parmesan
- ½ clove garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespons chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 2 pinches crushed red chili flakes
- 4 ounces proscuitto, roughly chopped
- 4 ounces mortadella, roughly chopped
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- Black pepper
- About 1 tablespoon dried bread crumbs
For the glaze
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons milk
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Put the flour and butter together in a dish and stash it in the freezer for 10 minutes. Stir together the egg yolks, water, and salt, and put that in the fridge as well.
- Once everything is well chilled, place your butter and flour as well as the sugar into a food processor and pulse until you've got a mixture that looks like wet sand. Add the wet ingredients and process until the dough starts to come together but is still a bit loose. I sometimes have to add a bit of extra water, but just add a teaspoon at a time.
- Tip the mixture out onto a clean counter and press it together with your hands. Divide the dough 60/40 into two discs (you'll need more dough for the bottom than the top), wrap in plastic wrap, and store in the fridge while you get on with your filling.
- Preheat your oven to 400F (200C), and if you have a baking sheet that your 8-inch springform pan can rest comfortably on, pop that in the oven to heat up as well. If you don't have one, it's not the end of the world, your bottom crust will just be a little more wet.
- Heat your olive oil in a skillet and crumble your deskinned sausage into the pan. Cook up your sausage until it nice and brown, then transfer it to a large mixing bowl.
- To your sausage, add your remaining filling ingredients except for the bread crumbs. Gently mix it all together.
- Roll out your larger disc of dough between two layers of plastic wrap until it's big enough to cover the bottom of your 8-inch springform pan and come up the sides. It's okay if it hangs over a bit. Sprinkle the bottom of your pie with the breadcrumbs. Don't worry about measuring. Just sprinkle until you have a fine layer across the bottom. Pour in your filling and spread it evenly over the crust.
- Roll out your second disc between layers of plastic wrap until it is big enough to cover the top of your pie. Place it on top of your pie, then fold over any overhanging dough to seal in your filling. Press the edges down with a fork, and poke several holes in the top of your pie with your fork for ventilation.
- In a small dish, whisk together your glaze ingredients and use a pastry brush to brush it evenly over the top of your pie. This will give it a lovely brown shiny top.
- Place your pie into the oven, on the hot baking sheet if you have it. Bake for 10 minutes at this temperature, and then lower the heat to 350F (175C) and bake for another 45 minutes.
- Allow your pie to cool for at least 10 minutes. Loosen the edges with a knife before removing the collar and slicing into it.
- Store any leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator. It will be totally awesome the next day.
Keywords: Meat, Cheese, Pastry
Recipe slightly adapted from How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.
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