I like this book although a good portion of it covers a lot of breads which I don't usually make as it tends to take up quite a bit of time and bread has such short shelf life. There are also your typical sweet baked goods in this book too but I'm challenging myself not to fall back on the usual cookies, brownies and cakes that I invariably always make. So I went with this recipe instead. According to the book, Pizza Rustica is commonly served in Italy as an appetizer. This may not look like the "pizza" I'm familiar with but I like it as a savory pie.
This is exactly the sort of dish that's up my alley - a sweet dough pie crust with a savory filling. I normally hate using my food processor as it's a pain to clean but it worked well to make the dough for this recipe. The dough really did gather into a ball around the blade once you added the eggs. It was a bit sticky and fragile to work with though so I had to add a little more flour when I was rolling out the bottom and top (lattice) crust. Even then, I had to do a patchwork job on the bottom crust but no one's really going to see that part so it didn't really matter. Not going for perfection here. Which is just as well since I didn't do such a great job with the lattice work either. It's hard to cut perfectly even strips of dough in the same width unless you're really, really good at it. I'm not. But I'm a home chef so that's fine with me. It all tastes the same :).
I really liked this combination of sweet pie crust and savory filling, more than I thought I would since I tend to prefer savory with savory. But this was a good combo. The pie crust came out crisp but not too sweet and was a nice base for the ricotta filling. The recipe doesn't call for brushing an egg wash over the crust but I recommend it anyway. It'll brown better with the egg wash.
The Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (4 ounces) cold unsalted butter
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade; pulse a few times just to mix the ingredients.
2. Add the butter and pulse 15 to 20 times or until the mixture resembles fine cornmeal. With the machine running, add the eggs and process until the dough forms a ball on the blade, about a minute or so.
3. Remove the dough from the processor and knead it, folding it over on itself, until it is smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic and set aside until needed. Dough can be wrapped and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
The Filling
1 pound whole milk ricotta
3 large eggs
¼ cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
¼ pound mozzarella cheese, grated
¼ pound thinly sliced prosciutto, shredded
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Scoop the ricotta into a medium bowl and stir until smooth with a rubber spatula. Add the rest of the filling ingredients, one at a time, stirring until each addition is incorporated and the mixture is well blended.
2. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350⁰F. Butter a 9” glass pie plate. If using a metal pie plate, increase the oven temp to 375⁰F.
3. Divide the dough into two pieces, one twice as large as the other. Working with the large piece, knead t into a disk and roll it out on a lightly floured work surface into a 12-inch circle.
4. Transfer the dough to the pie plate and press it gently against the bottom and up the sides of the plates. Use the dull side of a knife to trim the excess dough even with the rim.
5. Scrape the filling into the pie shell and smooth the top.
6. Knead and shape the remaining piece of dough into a block and roll it into a 9” square. Using a pizza or pastry cutter or a thin, sharp knife, cut the dough into 12 even strips. To form the lattice top, lay 6 of the strips across the pie at 1 ¼” intervals, then crisscross the strips, placing the remaining strips diagonally across the first. Trim the ends of the strips even with the edge of the pan and pinch to seal. Brush with a beaten egg slightly thinned with water (you won't use all of the egg wash.)
7. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling is firm and slightly puffed. Transfer the pie to a rack and cool completely before serving.
8. Leftovers can be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
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