Tuesday, April 03, 2012

TWD - Pizza Rustica

The challenge this week was Pizza Rustica, a cheese-filled pie that is a traditional Italian Easter dish. The three cheese and prosciutto filling is baked in a slightly sweet pastry shell with a simple criss-cross lattice top. While cooling, it looked like this:
I'm still getting used to the heating pattern in my oven, obviously. Should have rotated the pan a few times to even out the browning. Still, it looks pretty good.

The directions say to "cool thoroughly", and to serve either just warm or at room temp. My guests arrived while the pie was still a bit warm, so we went ahead and cut into it. Cooling is a good idea, as the cheese has a chance to set up a bit, making for easier cutting. Once sliced, it looked like this:
While everyone liked the dish as a whole, I'm personally still up in the air about the sweeter pastry. While I agree it's a nice counterpoint to the savory filling, I think I'd cut back on the sugar in the crust from 1/3 cup to three or four tablespoons. The pastry, by the way, was a dream to roll out and form, with very little sticking.

Served with whole wheat rolls and a salad bar, this made a lovely spring lunch.

For the recipe, visit

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