Pizza Rustica A Sicilian Sausage And Prosciutto Pie Recipes

PIZZA RUSTICA (A SICILIAN SAUSAGE AND PROSCIUTTO PIE)

Steps:

• Place a piece of cheesecloth into a strainer, and place the ricotta cheese into the cheesecloth. Set a bowl underneath the strainer to catch drips, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight, to allow moisture to drip from ricotta.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Place sausage into a large skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir until browned and crumbly, about 10 minutes. Drain excess grease, and allow sausage to cool.
• Place the drained ricotta cheese into a large bowl, and stir in 5 beaten eggs and mozzarella cheese until well mixed. Mix in the cooked sausage, Parmesan cheese, parsley, prosciutto, and black pepper until thoroughly combined.
• Divide the pizza dough into fourths, and roll out 2 of the pieces into 12-inch circles. Fit the circles into 2 10-inch pie plates, leaving 1 inch of dough hanging over the edge. Divide the filling between the 2 pies. Roll out 2 top crusts, place onto the pies, and fold the edges of the bottom crusts over the edges of the top crusts to seal. Crimp and flute the edges of the pie crusts.
• Beat 1 egg with water in a small bowl, and brush the egg wash over the tops and edges of both pies. Cut several slits into the top crusts to vent steam.
• Bake pies in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then lower oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Continue to bake until the crust is browned and the filling is hot, 45 to 50 more minutes. Serve at room temperature.

PIZZA RUSTICA

Steps:

• Position the rack on the bottom of the oven, and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add the sausages and saute until golden brown, breaking the sausage into pieces, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl and set aside to cool.
• Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the same frying pan over medium heat. Add the spinach and cook until the spinach wilts and the juices evaporate, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Squeeze the spinach to drain as much liquid as possible.
• Into a large bowl, add egg yolks and beat lightly. Stir in the ricotta, mozzarella, and 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese. Add the sausage, the spinach and prosciutto to the mixture and stir to combine.
• Roll out larger piece of dough on a lightly floured work surface to a 17-inch round. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch springform pan. Trim the dough overhang to 1 inch. Spoon the ricotta mixture into the dough-lined pan. Roll out the remaining piece of dough into a 12-inch round. Place the dough over the filling. Pinch the edges of the doughs together to seal, then crimp the dough edges decoratively. Brush the beaten 1 large egg over the entire pastry top. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan over the top. Bake on the bottom shelf until the crust is golden brown, about 1 hour.
• Let stand 15 minutes. Release the pan sides and transfer the pizza to a platter. Cut into wedges and serve.
• Blend the flour, the butter, the shortening and salt in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Blend in the eggs. With the machine running, add the water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough forms. Gather the dough into a ball. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, with 1 piece twice as large as the second piece. Flatten the dough pieces into disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is firm enough to roll out, about 30 minutes.

PIZZA RUSTICA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Cook and stir sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain.
• Mix Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, and eggs together in a bowl. Stir in sausage, prosciutto, and parsley.
• Roll 1 pie crust into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured work surface. Transfer to a pie plate, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Pierce crust all over with a fork. Spread cheese and sausage mixture over crust. Roll second pie crust into a 12-inch circle; place on top. Seal and flute edges. Cut several slits in the top crust to permit steam to escape.
• Bake in the preheated oven until center is set and crust is browned, about 1 hour.

PIZZA RUSTICA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375ºF.
• Brown sausage; drain. Beat eggs in large bowl; stir in sausage, cheeses, prosciutto and parsley.
• Line 9-inch pie plate with 1 pie crust; fill with meat mixture. Cover with remaining crust; seal and flute edge. Cut several slits in top crust to permit steam to escape.
• Bake 1 hour or until golden brown. Let stand 15 min. before serving.

PIZZA RUSTICA (A SICILIAN SAUSAGE AND PROSCIUTTO PIE)

Steps:

• Place a piece of cheesecloth into a strainer, and place the ricotta cheese into the cheesecloth. Set a bowl underneath the strainer to catch drips, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight, to allow moisture to drip from ricotta.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Place sausage into a large skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir until browned and crumbly, about 10 minutes. Drain excess grease, and allow sausage to cool.
• Place the drained ricotta cheese into a large bowl, and stir in 5 beaten eggs and mozzarella cheese until well mixed. Mix in the cooked sausage, Parmesan cheese, parsley, prosciutto, and black pepper until thoroughly combined.
• Divide the pizza dough into fourths, and roll out 2 of the pieces into 12-inch circles. Fit the circles into 2 10-inch pie plates, leaving 1 inch of dough hanging over the edge. Divide the filling between the 2 pies. Roll out 2 top crusts, place onto the pies, and fold the edges of the bottom crusts over the edges of the top crusts to seal. Crimp and flute the edges of the pie crusts.
• Beat 1 egg with water in a small bowl, and brush the egg wash over the tops and edges of both pies. Cut several slits into the top crusts to vent steam.
• Bake pies in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then lower oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Continue to bake until the crust is browned and the filling is hot, 45 to 50 more minutes. Serve at room temperature.

PIZZA RUSTICA (A SICILIAN SAUSAGE AND PROSCIUTTO PIE)

Steps:

• Place a piece of cheesecloth into a strainer, and place the ricotta cheese into the cheesecloth. Set a bowl underneath the strainer to catch drips, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight, to allow moisture to drip from ricotta.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Place sausage into a large skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir until browned and crumbly, about 10 minutes. Drain excess grease, and allow sausage to cool.
• Place the drained ricotta cheese into a large bowl, and stir in 5 beaten eggs and mozzarella cheese until well mixed. Mix in the cooked sausage, Parmesan cheese, parsley, prosciutto, and black pepper until thoroughly combined.
• Divide the pizza dough into fourths, and roll out 2 of the pieces into 12-inch circles. Fit the circles into 2 10-inch pie plates, leaving 1 inch of dough hanging over the edge. Divide the filling between the 2 pies. Roll out 2 top crusts, place onto the pies, and fold the edges of the bottom crusts over the edges of the top crusts to seal. Crimp and flute the edges of the pie crusts.
• Beat 1 egg with water in a small bowl, and brush the egg wash over the tops and edges of both pies. Cut several slits into the top crusts to vent steam.
• Bake pies in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then lower oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Continue to bake until the crust is browned and the filling is hot, 45 to 50 more minutes. Serve at room temperature.

PIZZA RUSTICA WITH SAUSAGE, SPINACH AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Place flour and butter in a dish and place in the freezer.
• Stir together the egg yolk, salt, and water and place this in the refrigerator.
• After 10 minutes have passed, process the flour and butter just until it looks like cornmeal or coarse sand. Add the egg mixture to bind, and process until it just starts to come together.
• Dump the dough onto a clean work surface and push together with your hands. Divide dough into 2 parts, one slightly larger than the other, and form these into discs. Wrap in plastic and let rest in the refrigerator.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Wipe out the processor bowl a bit and process the onions.
• Pour into a large skillet or dutch oven with the olive oil. Saute over medium-high heat for about 8 minutes.
• Add sausage and use the spatula to mix into the onions. Continue to cook until sausage is slightly browned.
• Remove from heat and add spinach and ricotta cheese.
• Add most of the shredded cheese (save about 1/3 of it) and egg whites. Stir together very well (to incorporate the whites evenly).
• Continue with the pastry. Placing each disc between two sheets of plastic wrap, roll one out to be about the size of your springform pan. Roll the other out to be larger than the pan by about 2 ½ inches. (It will form the bottom and sides of your pie.)
• Take the top sheet off of the larger one and turn it onto the pan. Try to center it. Remove plastic and gently ease/press it into the pan.
• Into this sprinkle the cornmeal or breadcrumbs and then the remaining cheese.
• Spoon the filling into the crust. Do not overfill -- you may have extra filling. Place the top crust over this, and press the edges together with the bottom crust. Poke a few steam holes in the top, and bake about 40 minutes, or until the pie is golden.
• Let rest about 10 minutes before serving. Also great cold or warmed up the next day.

PIZZA RUSTICA

Steps:

• To prepare the dough, in a medium bowl, lightly toss together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add the Crisco, combining all the ingredients with your fingertips until the dough separates into crumbly, pea-size pieces. Add the water and the 3 beaten eggs to the dough, again combining the ingredients with your fingertips. As you're mixing, be aware that this dough has a different texture from most-it's a little bit sticky and has a very elastic quality to it (if the dough is sticky enough that you can't easily get it off your fingers, add a very light dusting of flour). When you are able to form a ball with the dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• To prepare the filling, in a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, combine the 3 beaten eggs, pepper, ricotta, and Parmesan. Once these ingredients are fully combined, slowly add the sopressata, prosciutto, capicola, sweet sausage, mozzarella, basket cheese, and parsley. Continue to mix until the ingredients are spread evenly throughout the mixture.
• To prepare the pie shell, sprinkle flour over your rolling pin and work surface, and divide the chilled ball of dough in half. Roll out two circles (using one half of the dough for each circle) that are approximately 12 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick. Remember, this crust has a lot of elasticity to it, so really press down on the rolling pin, applying a little extra pressure. Fold one dough circle in half, place it in a 10-inch pie plate so that the edges of the circle drop over the rim, and unfold the dough to completely cover the pie plate.
• To assemble the pie, spread the filling across the pie shell, distributing it evenly. Top it with the quartered hard-boiled eggs. Take the remaining dough circle and fold in half. Place it over the filling, with the straight line of the half circle running down the middle of the pie. Unfold the circle so that the entire pie is covered. Using your thumb and index finger, crimp the edges of the pie together to seal in the filling.
• Break the 2 remaining eggs into a small bowl, and beat them to create an egg wash. Brush the top crust of the pie with the egg wash, taking care to cover it thoroughly. Use a sharp knife to cut at least five 2-inch slits in the top crust for ventilation (ventilation is essential for pizza rustica).
• To bake, place the pie plate on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, or until the crust has browned and the filling has achieved a firm consistency. Transfer the pie plate to a wire cooling rack and allow the pie to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.
• Pizza Rustica can be served warm, at room temperature, or cold. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.