Pizza Rustica

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Put ricotta and eggs into a large bowl and stir until well mixed.
Blend in all other ingredients. Slice the sausage into rounds about
3/8 inch thick. Brown in a little oil until cooked through. Drain and
discard grease. Cut the salami and ham slices into strips about 1 x
1/4 inches. Make or thaw or unwrap the pizza dough. Mix the meats  into
the cheese filling. Roll the dough into two disks, one large  enough to
line a 10-inch round cake pan, the other large enough to  cover it. Put
the larger piece into the lightly-floured cake pan,  molding it so that
it completely lines the pan, with at least 1/2  inch hanging over the
edge. Fill with the cheese-meat mixture.  To  allow for expansion, fill
to about 1/2 inch below the top of the pan.  Wet the exposed dough edge
with egg white, place the other piece of  dough on top, and pinch the
two pieces together. Trim neatly to make  a seal. Brush egg yolk over
the top of the pie (this will brown  during baking). Puncture the top
of pie in several places with a  knife (make sure the holes are large
enough not to close up during  baking). Bake at 350 degrees F. for
about an hour, until the top is  browned but not burned. Remove from
pan and cool on a wire rack.  Serve at room temperature. NOTES: *  San
Felese Easter pie -- This  dish is traditional in my family at Easter
time.  I don't know how to  spell the Italian name of this pie, but it
sounds something like  "Pizza Gain" (my father translates it as "full
pie" This recipe  originated in the town of San Fele, east of Naples. *
This recipe  makes a very large pie. I couldn't find a big enough cake
pan, so I  used a cast-iron frying pan. You might try using half the
quantity of  ingredients in a 7-inch pan (make a little extra dough). *
If  possible, grate your own romano cheese. Some of the romano sold
pre-grated in cardboard cylinders looks and tastes more like sawdust
than cheese. "Romano" and "parmesan" are American names; the main
difference is that romano is sharper. The mint you want to use is
spearmint. It is sold as just plain "mint" in the spice section of
supermarkets. Peppermint is entirely the wrong flavor. * Italian
sausage is a 'fresh' sausage, i.e. uncured and uncooked.  It must be
cooked before eating. Depending upon where you live, the less-spicy
version of it is called either "sweet" or "mild."  When I'm really
ambitious I make my own (that doesn't happen often!). The only
ingredients are pork (about 20 percent fat), fennel seeds, salt and a
small amount of red pepper flakes, all coarsely ground and stuffed
into natural hog casings. If you can't find Italian sausage, you  might
try a mixture of ground pork with the above seasonings, rolled  into
little patties. To adjust seasonings, just pan-fry a little bit  of the
mixture and taste. * The cheese filling given above (without  the
meats) is my standard filling for lasagna, manicotti, ravioli,  etc. *
This same recipe can be used to make calzone.  Roll out a  small disk
of pizza dough, put a blob of cheese/meat mixture in the  middle, fold
it over, seal and bake.  This is a good way to use up  any filling that
doesn't fit into the pie.  : Joe Petolino  : Chronon Computer Co.,
Mountain View CA  : sun!chronon!petolino  : Copyright (C) 1986 USENET
Community Trust  From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at
www.synapse.com/~gemini

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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 554
Calories From Fat: 215
Total Fat: 24.3g
Cholesterol: 154.9mg
Sodium: 1138.1mg
Potassium: 364.4mg
Carbohydrates: 46.9g
Fiber: 2.3g
Sugar: 1.1g
Protein: 36g