Pizza Rustica
Pizza Rustica is thought to have originated in Naples in the 17th century. It is also called Pizza Ripiena, Pizza Chiena, Pizza Gain, and Pizzagiana. My mom, my grandma, and my great grandma (who immigrated from the Calabria region of Italy in the late 1800’s) called it Pizza Rustica.
Pizza Rustica is essentially a deep-dish pie, traditionally made with a lard-based dough. It is filled with an assortment of cured meats and Italian cheeses. Some recipes layer the ingredients while others cut the meats and cheesed into cubes to create a filling like a quiche. Still other recipes add eggs and cooked green vegetables.
New arrivals from southern Italy sometimes found it difficult to find some of the ingredients needed for their recipe so they would make substitutions. That is one of the reasons we find so many variations of this pie. Another reason is that different regions of Italy made changes to suit their readily available ingredients.
This recipe uses sweet Italian sausage, Genoa salami, ricotta, provolone, mozzarella, eggs, and sharp grating cheese. The meats and cheeses (other than the ricotta) are cubed or crumbled and mixed with eggs to make the filling. Some of the other meats that are used are pepperoni, ham, soppressata, prosciutto, and capicola, to name a few.
While this pie is traditionally served at Easter to mark the end of Lent, and the time of fast and abstinence, for as long as I can remember my family always made it at Christmas time as well. It was typically served in small servings as an appetizer.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 1:45
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Seasonal
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
About 1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing;
1/3 lb. Sliced Genoa salami (preferably Boar’s Head brand), cut into ½ inch
cubes;
1/3 lb. Sliced provolone cheese (preferably Boar’s Head brand) cut into ½ inch
cubes;
16 oz. ricotta cheese (preferably Polly-O brand);
8 oz. mozzarella (preferably Polly-O brand) cut into small cubes;
1 cup of sharp grating cheese, like a Romano;
6 eggs;
Pie crust (I use Pillsbury, from the dairy case, has two crusts).
Instructions
1. Hard boil 1 egg;
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees;
3. Place the first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl;
4. Add the 5 eggs, reserving 1 egg yolk for the pie crust;
5. Thoroughly mix all of the ingredients;
6. Line a 9” deep pie plate with one of the crusts;
7. Add the filling, stopping just short of the top of the pie plate;
8. Slice the hardboiled egg and place randomly on top of the filling;
9. Place the top pie crust and pinch closed;
10. Brush the top of the pie with the remaining egg yolk;
11. Pierce the top of the pie crust in several places with a fork to allow steam to
escape;
12. Bake in the oven on the center rack for about 1 ½ hours or until the pie crust is
golden and the pie is bubbling.
13. Remove from oven and allow it to cool to room temperature before cutting.
Notes
The pie is best served slightly above room temperature. We generally cut the pie into small pieces and serve it as an appetizer. It is very filling.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 ounces
- Calories: 473
- Sugar: 4
- Sodium: 95
- Fat: 8
- Saturated Fat: 5
- Unsaturated Fat: 3
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 125
- Fiber: 6
- Protein: 10
- Cholesterol: 250