Simple Pizza Rustica: aka Pizzagaine Italian Easter Pie: Foodie Friday

When I was a little kid about a week before Easter my grandmother, who lived next door, would gather up the grandchildren, and miscellaneous neighborhood kids who had the misfortunate of having been hanging out in our backyard, when nonna decided she need help with “The Pizzagaine” 

Pizza Gaine or Pizza Rustica it goes by many names. I remember uncles saying it was called Pizza Gaine because “If you eat too much of it you’re gunna gain weight.”

Pizzagaine is a hearty quiche like concoction made of ham, salami, cheese and eggs. My nonna, Mariette  made twelve of these pies at a time. “One for each Apostle.” I was always expecting that Peter, Paul, and the rest of the gang were going to walk in the door at any moment for dinner...they never showed? 

Well, true Pizzagaine is very labor intensive. Us kids were all assigned stations. One kid would chop cheese, another ham, another salami. One time I spent hours just cracking eggs. My grandmother would focus on making the crust. She put the crust on the bottom and the top of the pie, some families just put it on the bottom. 

The recipe I am sharing with you today is a simplified version of this pie. I pared down the ingredients and the crust is store bought. This pie still maintains the flavors of the original. Pizzagaine is really delicious and versatile. You can eat it warm with dark greens for dinner or cold with a side salad for lunch, or my favorite: cold by itself for breakfast.  

Simple Pizza Rustica: aka Pizzagaine

 Italian Easter Pie

by Diane Balch

Prep time: 30 minutes Serves: 8-10

Ingredients: 

2  frozen deep dish pie crusts

1 dozen large eggs

1lb *basket cheese chopped small

4 oz boiled ham chopped small

6 oz Soppressata or other hard salami chopped small

1/2 cup grated Romano cheese

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees and brown the pie crust, approximately 10 minutes. When the pie crusts are brown remove them from the oven and let them cool a little. Lower the heat to 350 degree.

2) Wrap the basket cheese in paper towels and put a heavy pan on top of it for about 5 minutes to remove some of it's moisture.

3) Put pies crusts on a baking sheet. Chop the basket cheese, ham, and salami, evenly divide them between the two pies. Divide the Romano cheese in half and sprinkle it over the filling.

4) Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt, and a generious amount of fresh ground pepper. Evenly divide the egg mixture between the two pies.

5) Cook pies for approximately 30 minutes or until the top is lightly brown and the center is firm. 

6) Let pies cool for 10 minutes before serving with a side salad or cooked dark green vegetable. 

Keep leftovers in the fridge and eat cold for breakfast.

*NOTE: Basket cheese goes by many names: Farmer's Cheese, Fresh Table Cheese, or Formagino Fresco
copyright 2012

Related articles

• Basic Quiche: Use Your Leftovers Wisely (simplelivingdianebalch.blogspot.com)
• http://verygoodrecipes.com/italia

Italian, eggs, quiche

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Spotlight on Amanda‘  Pasta e Fagioli 

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 At the Red Table’s 

I grew up eating this dish and I love the idea of adding ground turkey. It adds a different flavor without compromising the taste or the healthiness of the soup.

Turkey Pasta e Fagioli

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