Pizza Rustica
8 portions
180mA lesser-known Easter tradition. This falls somewhere between a pizza and a meat pie. You will often see these stuffed with an assortment of meats and cheeses, but I stuck to a relatively simple filling of ricotta, mozzarella and pepperoni. This dish is fun, but it is a challenge, and you do get a pretty similar effect with a quiche for a fraction of the effort.
What you will need
1 cup Unsated Butter
10 Eggs
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
4 cups AP Flour
Salt
1/4 cup Water
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan
10 oz. Shredded Mozzarella
1 lb. Ricotta
6 oz. Pepperoni
(Nutritional facts 392 calories, 27.85 g fat, 17.92 g carbohydrates, 17.2 g protein, 555 mg cholesterol, 520 mg sodium)How to cook
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Freeze the butter until solid, then grate it as you would a piece of cheese.
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Crack three of the eggs into a medium-sized mixing bowl.
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Add the olive oil and mix well.
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Place the flour in a large mixing bowl.
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Add the salt and mix by hand to disperse.
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Add the grated butter.
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Crush the butter into the flour, squeezing it through your fingers until it forms a crumbly dough.
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Add the egg mixture into the flour.
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The water should be chilled. Pop it in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Add the water, about 1 Tbsp at a time, mixing well after each addition. The dough should come together in a dry mass.
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Divide the dough into 2 balls, one about 20% larger than the other, and knead each briefly until it comes together. This dough should not be very extensible, and it should remain difficult to knead. But if it won't come together, you can knead in a little more water in 1 Tbsp increments until it does.
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Seal the dough and set it in the fridge to chill while you prepare the filling.
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Crack 3 more eggs into a dish. Carefully remove the yolks to a separate bowl.
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Place the egg yolks in a large mixing bowl.
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Add three more eggs to the egg yolks.
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Add the grated parmesan.
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Add the shredded mozzarella.
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Fold in the ricotta.
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Add the pepperoni and mix well to distribute.
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Preheat oven to 350°F
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Starting with the larger ball of dough, roll the dough out into 2 large rounds, about 1/8" thick. This dough will take some effort to work, but keep at it.
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Coat the springform pan with a little oil or butter to help the dough release after baking.
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Place that larger round of dough in the pan and press it into the corners and up over the rim. If you need to, trim some of the edges to patch up regions where you don't have coverage.
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Spread the ricotta filling out in the crust.
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Roll out the smaller piece of dough, again to about 1/8" thick.
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Drape the smaller dough round over the top of the filling. Smooth it over the filling and pinch it to the dough at the rim to seal it tight.
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Trim away the overhanging dough.
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Crimp the edge of the dough to seal the top to the base. Pressing the rim with the tines of a fork works great here.
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Whip the last egg with a splash of water and paint it thinly over the top of the dough.
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Cut several short slits into the top of the dough to allow steam to escape as it cooks..
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Bake for about 2 hours, rotating the pan halfway through cooking. Check the pie often towards the end of cooking. If the crust begins to darken too much, you can place a piece of foil over the top for the remainder of cooking.
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