Italian Easter Baking

VeraBlue

VeraBlue

Head Mistress
Every year as a kid we had two things for easter (in addition to lasagna, turkey, ham, etc etc etc..) One was pizza rustica and the other was an egg bread.

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The bread has a light anise flavour. The pizza is made with a pasta frolla pastry (dough has eggs in it) and the filling is made with basket cheese, salami, ham, pepperoni, eggs, cheeses and parsley.

We sampled a small slice of the pizza yesterday as we were cooking dinner. The bread, however, has to wait till later for eating.
 
OH. MY. GOD.

Vera, I have always admired those egg breads and have sworn that it's going to be on my "learning-how-to-bake-breads-when-I-retire" list! How absolutely beautiful!

As for the pizza, I had a slice of one like that (though it had tomatoe, I think) when I was maybe 4 years old. An elderly Italian woman made it, and I argued with my mother that it was NOT pizza! But I loved it, have remembered and talked about it ever since, and have never seen another like it until your photo!

Would you please post the recipe?

GREAT JOB, and thanks for the pictures! :-)

Happy Easter!

Lee
 
looks great vb!!!

my bil's mom, who is raymond's mom's twin (from (everybody loves raymond"), makes the pizza rustica every year.

the last time i asked for it, she gave me an erroneous recipe...:sad:

but it was delicious. she also made one that was similar but very sweet, the filling made mostly from ricotta. ever hear of it, vb?
 
buckytom said:
looks great vb!!!

she also made one that was similar but very sweet, the filling made mostly from ricotta. ever hear of it, vb?
Click to expand...

There are two easter pies. One has meat and the other has ricotta and tapioca. I only made the sweet one once...and the meat one every year for the past 8 years now.
 
Pizza Rustica - Italian Easter Pie

For the pasta frolla (dough)

2 cups flour
1 c butter
S&P
2 eggs

Process butter and flour till coarse. Add S&P and 2 eggs. Pulse till it comes together. Let it rest an hour after you shape it to 2 disks (one slightly smaller than the other)

Filling
8 oz basket cheese (usually it's easy to find this around this time of year, literally it's cheese that is sold in a white plastic basket. You could substitute farmers cheese if you have to, but ask around for the basket cheese, first) - sliced
3 oz diced ham
3 oz diced genoa salami
3 oz diced pepperoni
1 oz diced provolone
1oz diced mozzarella
6 eggs
1/3 c grated parmesan
1/4 c fresh chopped parsley
S&P

Blend eggs and grated cheese with parsley and S&P. Stir in diced meats and cheeses, set aside.

Roll out bottom dough and fit into 10 inch pie plate, leaving some hanging over the edges. Place slices of basket cheese on the bottom covering as much as possible, leaving some for the top. Add the egg and meat/cheese mixture. Top with remaining slices of basket cheese. Roll out top dough disk and fit over filling. Crimp edges. Vent top.

Bake in 350 oven for 50 - 60 minutes. Let it sit about 20 minutes before slicing.
 
Keep the recipes, just cook for me! I'll fight Lou to do the dishes. Hell, I'll even vacuum if need be and clean out the gutters.

Beautiful work, as always. My Challah is in the oven and the Easter bread with whole eggs has about 30 minutes before it goes in the oven.
 
I just ran your suggestion by Lou, Joe....he laughed. I, on the other hand, am already thinking about the gutters....:idea:
 
Nick Malgieri has a wonderful pizza rustica recipe as well, VB. I tasted it at one of his master classes.

His version from Milan:
http://www.nickmalgieri.com/recipes/4-savory-tarts-pies/pizza_rustica.html

His version from Naples:
http://www.nickmalgieri.com/recipes/4-savory-tarts-pies/pizza_napoletana.html

It is the one from Naples that I saw him make and tasted. I think you would like it as well.

There is also this meat and cheese pie that I forgot about--it is a bit salty for my tastes but it is authentic:
http://www.nickmalgieri.com/recipes/4-savory-tarts-pies/pizza_chiena.html
 
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That looks really good VB! Thanks for supplying the recipe...I'm definitely gonna try this!
 
Wow, Susan, those all are making my mouth water! These pies might ALL be in my future!

Vera, thank you for posting your recipe. I've copied and pasted it, and probably will try that one first.

YAY!

Lee
 
Lee, pizza rustica is an amazing pie. I was thrilled when Nick Malgieri made it in class. He decided to become a pastry chef because of his Nona and the love he had for her and the time he spent in her kitchen. I don't think that I have ever had a bad experience with any of his recipes and I own all of his baking books.

I bet VB has some special memories tied to her version. Those are the reasons why I love certain holiday recipes.
 
Susan, when I was young I actually didn't care for the meat pies. You'd walk into my grandmother's kitchen (the one who only spoke broken english) and you'd see this lovely pie....and expect something sweet inside. Instead, you get meat:ohmy:and you have to wrap your head around that. I preferred the sweet pies. Now, however, I hardly ever make the sweet pie, opting instead for the rustic tastes of the meat pie.
 
VB, as one gets older one's taste changes. There are things that I wouldn't touch as a child that I love today. Is your version of pizza rustica like your Nona's or have you made your own changes?
 
My layers are more definite that hers...you can see the upper and lower layer of basket cheese. Hers (an as a result, my aunts') was more combined and crumbly in the middle.
 
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