Torta Rustica – We Love God!

Our self-abnegation is thus not for our own sake but for the sake of others. And thus it is not to mere self-denial that Christ calls us but specifically to self-sacrifice, not to unselfing ourselves but to unselfishing ourselves. Self-denial for its own sake is in its very nature ascetic, monkish. It concentrates our whole attention on self—self-knowledge, self-control - and can therefore eventuate in nothing other than the very apotheosis of selfishness. At best it succeeds only in subjecting the outer self to the inner self or the lower self to the higher self, and only the more surely falls into the slough of self-seeking, that it partially conceals the selfishness of its goal by refining its ideal of self and excluding its grosser and more outward elements. Self-denial, then, drives to the cloister, narrows and contracts the soul, murders within us all innocent desires, dries up all the springs of sympathy, and nurses and coddles our self-importance until we grow so great in our own esteem as to be careless of the trials and sufferings, the joys and aspirations, the strivings and failures and successes of our fellow-men. Self-denial, thus understood, will make us cold, hard, unsympathetic—proud, arrogant, self-esteeming—fanatical, overbearing, cruel. It may make monks and Stoics, it cannot make Christians.

B.B. Warfield

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Meats, Vegetables, Eggs, Dairy, Grains	Italian	Appetizers, Italian, Meats, Vegetables, Wrv	12	Servings

INGREDIENTS

1/3	c	Warm water, 105-115~
1		Active dry yeast
1	t	Sugar
2		Eggs
2	T	Olive oil
2	c	Unsifted all-purpose flour
1	t	Salt
1/4	c	Parmesan, grate
10	oz	Frozen chopped spinach, thaw
15	oz	Part-skim ricotta cheese
3/4	c	Asiago cheese, grate
1/4	c	Parmesan, grate
1	c	Fresh basil, julienne
1/2	t	Fresh ground pepper
1		Egg, beaten
1/4	lb	Sliced Genoa salami
		julienne
3	oz	Mozzarella cheese, dice fine
2		Plum tomatoes, seed dice
		Oil for greasing pan

INSTRUCTIONS

DOUGH-In small glass measure, combine the water, yeast and sugar; mix
well. Let sit 4 minutes or until foamy. Add eggs and oil to yeast
mixture; with fork, mix well. In food processor, combine flour, salt
and Parmesan; with machine running, pour in yeast mixture through  feed
tube. Process until dough forms a ball. Process 1 minute to  knead.
Flour large plastic food storage bag; add dough. Seal bag;  place in
bowl. Let dough rise in warm place 1 hour or until doubled  in bulk.
FILLING-Squeeze spinach dry. In medium bowl, combine  spinach, ricotta,
1/2 c Asiago cheese, Parmesan, basil, pepper and  half the beaten egg;
mix well. With oil, generously grease 13" pizza  pan. Punch down dough.
Set aside 1/2 c dough. On floured surface,  roll remaining dough to a
14" round. Drape over rolling pin and  unroll onto pan (dough will
drape over edges of pan.) Sprinkle salami  over dough, leaving 2" from
edges uncovered. Evenly spread ricotta  mixture over salami; sprinkle
with remaining Asiago. Sprinkle with  mozzarella and tomatoes. Divide
reserved dough into 6 equal pieces.  Roll each to a 10" rope; lay ropes
across filling and crimp to make a  lattice. Fold dough up onto filling
and crimp to make a raised edge  similar to pie edge. Side of torta
should be about 2" high. (Torta  will look like a basket.) Brush
lattice and edge of dough with  reserved egg. Bake torta 25 to 30
minutes or until well browned. Cool  in pan on rack 10 minutes.
Carefully slide torta off pan onto rack.  Serve slightly warm or at
room temperature. 259 cal 13 gr fat; 45%  fat. Source: McCall Magazine.
Posted to MC-Recipe Digest by Nancy  Berry <nlberry@prodigy.net> on Apr
06, 1998

A Message from our Provider:

“When Holy God draws near in true revival, people come under terrible conviction of sin. The outstanding feature of spiritual awakening has been the profound consciousness of the Presence and holiness of God. #Henry Blackaby”

Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients) ---------------------------------------------- Calories: 251 Calories From Fat: 108 Total Fat: 12.2g Cholesterol: 75.3mg Sodium: 541.2mg Potassium: 285.7mg Carbohydrates: 21.6g Fiber: 2.8g Sugar: <1g Protein: 14.4g