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PIZZA-RUSTICA - San Felese Easter pie
This dish is traditional in my family at Easter time. I
don't know how to spell the Italian name of this pie, but it
sounds something like ``Pizza Gain''-my father translates it
as ``full pie'' This recipe originated in the town of San
Fele, east of Naples.
CHEESE FILLING
1 kg ricotta cheese
3 large eggs
100 g mozzarella cheese, shredded or chopped
25 g romano cheese, grated
5 g fresh parsley, chopped
25 ml dried mint leaves (do not use peppermint)
2.5 ml black pepper
salt to taste-depends on salt content of cheeses.
MEAT FILLING
500 g Italian sausage (``mild'' or ``sweet'')
60 g Italian dry salami, thinly sliced
60 g prosciutto, thinly sliced (or any other ham)
PIZZA
700 g pizza dough (if you make your own dough, use about
300 g of flour)
flour
1 egg, separated
(1) Put ricotta and eggs into a large bowl and stir
until well mixed. Blend in all other ingredients.
(2) Slice the sausage into rounds about 7 mm thick.
Brown in a little oil until cooked through.
Drain, and discard grease. Cut the salami and ham
slices into strips about 2x1/2cm
(3) Make or thaw or unwrap the pizza dough.
(4) Mix the meats into the cheese filling. Roll the
dough into two disks, one large enough to line a
25-cm round cake pan, the other large enough to
cover it. Put the larger piece into the lightly-
floured cake pan, molding it so that it completely
lines the pan, with at least 1 cm hanging over the
edge. Fill with the cheese-meat mixture. To
allow for expansion, fill to about 1 cm below the
top of the pan. Wet the exposed dough edge with
egg white, place the other piece of dough on top,
and pinch the two pieces together. Trim neatly to
make a seal. Brush egg yolk over the top of the
pie (this will brown during baking). Puncture the
top of pie in several places with a knife (make
sure the holes are large enough not to close up
during baking). Bake at 175 deg. C for about an
hour, until the top is browned but not burned.
Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Serve at
room temperature.
This recipe makes a very large pie. I couldn't find a big
enough cake pan, so I used a cast-iron frying pan. You
might try using half the quantity of ingredients in an 18-cm
pan (make a little extra dough).
If possible, grate your own romano cheese. Some of the
romano sold pre-grated in cardboard cylinders looks and
tastes more like sawdust than cheese. ``Romano'' and ``par-
mesan'' are American names; the main difference is that
romano is sharper. The mint you want to use is spearmint. It
is sold as just plain ``mint'' in the spice section of
supermarkets. Peppermint is entirely the wrong flavor.
Italian sausage is a 'fresh' sausage, i.e. uncured and
uncooked. It must be cooked before eating. Depending upon
where you live, the less-spicy version of it is called
either ``sweet'' or ``mild''. When I'm really ambitious I
make my own (that doesn't happen often!). The only
ingredients are pork (about 20% fat), fennel seeds, salt,
and a small amount of red pepper flakes, all coarsely ground
and stuffed into natural hog casings. If you can't find
Italian sausage, you might try a mixture of ground pork with
the above seasonings, rolled into little patties. To adjust
seasonings, just pan-fry a little bit of the mixture and
taste.
The cheese filling given above (without the meats) is my
standard filling for lasagna, manicotti, ravioli, etc.
This same recipe can be used to make calzone. Roll out a
small disk of pizza dough, put a blob of cheese/meat mixture
in the middle, fold it over, seal, and bake. This is a good
way to use up any filling that doesn't fit into the pie.
Difficulty: moderate. Time: 30 minutes preparation, 1 hour
cooking. Precision: approximate measurement OK.
Joe Petolino
Chronon Computer Co., Mountain View CA
sun!chronon!petolino
| Last modified: 9 May 2006 | 42 hits in May 2012 |
