Peasant’s pie ("pizza rustica") with mozzarella and salame
| November 12, 2009 | Posted by ameliaps under any season, appetizers, autumn, cheese, crust, eggs, mozzarella, parmesan, salame, side dishes, winter |
This savory pie is delicious right out of the oven, piping hot and oozing mozzarella cheese in strands or diced up in squares once cooled in finger bites. It’s awesome for buffets and pic-nics. It is actually similar in idea to a quiche, but it is topped with pastry.
You can be creative with the main ingredient. This version has chopped salame and pepper, but you can give it a sweeter taste by adding raisins (kids love this version). Another wonderful thing to use is greens (I like beet greens, with a little extra bitterness) and feel free to substitute the mozzarella with ricotta or other cheese (preferably Italian).
It is alo a great last minute preparation because it has so few ingredients, which you probably also almost always have around. I LOVE this savory crust: its flaky and a tad sweet.
Peasant’s pie (“pizza rustica”) with mozzarella and salame
Dough:
250 gr. (2 cups) all-purpose flour
100 gr. butter (7 Tbps), cold, cut into cubes
2 egg, separated (keep one to brush the top of the dough)
1 Tbsp sugar
Salt and pepper, TT
Filling #1:
400 gr. (14 oz. whole or 3 1/2 cups shredded) mozzarella (or other cheese)
100 gr. (4 oz.) salami, sliced then chopped small (or raisins, plumped in hot water for 10 minutes)
6 eggs, beaten
salt and fresh ground pepper, TT
Filling #2
600 gr. (2 10 oz.) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
100 gr. (4 oz. or 1/2 cup) ricotta cheese
100 gr. (3 1/2 oz. or 1 cup shredded) mozzarella
2 Tbps. grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
Salt, pepper, and nutmeg, TT
Prepare the dough working together the ingredients (save one egg for brushing).
It will be (and should be, so it can be rolled out thinly without preading out or cracking) sort of “stiff”. Roll it into a dough and let it rest 20 minutes (in the fridge if its summer, or at room temperature in the winter).
Meanwhile, mix together all the filling ingredients in a big bowl.
Turn the oven on at 350F.
Flour a work surface. Divide the dough in two and roll out the first half: you need to be very gentle and make sure it does not break (it requires some practice to roll it out very thin, so do not panic and use your fingers to pinch the broken pieces back together!).
Lay into a medium spring-form pan, that has been oiled or sprayed. Pour in the filling in the dough. Roll out the second half and lay over the filling, pinching the sides to seal. Make an egg wash with the remaning egg and 1 Tbsp of water and brush the top if the pie.
Bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven, let cool slightly and remove from spring-form to serve on a dish.
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That's one indulgent peasant ; )
I love this. So much cheese…how wonderful!
Now that's my kind of pie! It looks hearty and delicious.
I've never tried a pizza rustica. That looks really delicious! I'm gonna try this!
This pie sounds like it was made for me! I'm bookmarking it now! Great recipe!
This looks delish! About how big is a medium spring form pan? Thanks!
Sandi: 9 inches
Thanks for the speedy response, Amelia. Looking forward to trying this one out.
Hi. My mom makes this every Easter..with two types of salami (genoa and dry salami), ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan and a soft white cheese (like monteray Jack) and eggs (hard boiled as well as beaten). The last cheese originally was something called “touma” (phonetic) which was a special cheese made at Easter time. Great to see someone else has something similar!