Pizza Rustica, Italian Easter Pie

Pizza Rustica is an good Italian Easter pie made with a flaky and buttery pie crust and filled with eggs, ricotta, salami, and cheese. This recipe makes a truly special pie that's packed with flavour and looks impressive.

Pizza Rustica (also known as Pizza Chiena or Pizza Ripiena) is a rustic Italian pie from southern Italy that's served during Easter.

Depending on the region it can be made with a pizza dough crust or a pastry crust. It always contains eggs so kind of resembles a quiche and can contain a variety of different meats and cheeses.

We love our Pizza Rustica with flaky, and buttery pastry (don't worry it's not difficult to make) and an good filling of eggs, ricotta, salame and smoked scamorza cheese.

It truly is good and the solid way to celebrate Easter!

Ingredients – what you need

See the photo below that shows you everything you need to make the most good Italian Easter pie including some important notes.

• Flour – traditionally in Italy this recipe is made with 00 flour (double zero) but all-purpose flour works fine.
• Butter – the butter must be cold to make a good pie crust/pastry. We like to use a food processor to crumb it with the flour to avoid using warm hands.
• Eggs – use large eggs at room temperature.
• Ricotta – use whole milk ricotta for best flavour.
• Salami – It's better to use a salami that's not spicy and preferably whole so you can cut it into 1/2 cubes. Salami Napoli is a great option.
• Cheese – We use a mix of pecorino and smoked scamorza cheese which is a good creamy and mellow smoked cheese. You should be able to find it in Italian food stores but if not you can use cubed provolone, fontina, or mozzarella.

Mix the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder in a bowl. Tip into a food processor, add the cubed cold butter, and blitz until it resembles fine crumbs (photo 1-3).

Tip the butter and flour mixture back into the bowl, make a well in the middle and add 3 large beaten eggs (photo 4).

Mix everything together until a dough starts to form then using your hands gently knead the dough to form a ball. You want to bring the dough together until fully incorporated and smooth, don't over-knead (photos 5-7).

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Cut the salami and smoked scamorza (or cheese of choice) into ½ inch cubes, set aside.

Mix 8 large eggs in a large bowl with the ricotta until smooth and most of the lumps have gone. Add the cubed salami, Scamorza, grated Pecorino cheese, and black pepper and mix to combine (photos 9-11).

Remove the dough from the fridge and cut into two. Roll out the first half into a large rough circle about ¼ inch thick (3-4mm) (photos 12-14).

Place the dough over your pie dish and tuck in the edges. Pour the filling into the pie then roll out the second half of dough (photo 16).

Place the top over the pie, press it lightly so it touches the filling, and press it up the sides of the pie dish so the filling is completely encased (photos 17 & 18).

Trim the edges of the pie with a sharp knife and press the edges together with a fork to seal it. If you find the pastry isn't sticking together you can dab the edges lightly with water to help it stick (photo 19).

Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg and make an incision in the middle to let steam out (photo 20).

Bake in the oven for 1 hour until golden brown and cooked through. The pie is best eaten cold or slightly warm so let it cool before serving.

Recipe tips and FAQs

• Buying salami – buy a whole salame or ask your deli counter to cut a larger piece so you can cut it into 1/2 inch cubes.
• Flavour variations – you can pretty much choose any kind of meats and cheese you like. Mortadella, prosciutto cotto (ham) or any kind of salami will work. We prefer to cut it into cubes but you can also cut up slices if that's all you have.
• Cheese – We used smoked Scamorza cheese which is mild and creamy but you can use almost any kind of firm cheese you like. We recommend Fontina, Provolone or Mozzarella.
• Less is more – don't go overboard with the filling options we find that 1-2 meats and 1-2 cheeses (not including the ricotta) is all you need.
• No added salt – if you use cured meat like salami you won't need to add any additional salt or the whole dish will be overly seasoned.
• Let it cool – let the pie cool before cutting into slices.
• Serving suggestions – Pizza Rustica is best served cold, it tastes so much better. We like to serve it as it is or will a fresh side salad like our simple arugula salad with lemon.

Can we make this in advance?

Yes, you can prepare the whole pie in advance and store it in the fridge once cooled for up to 4 days.

What can we do with leftover pastry?

Leftover pastry can be frozen (wrapped in plastic wrap) or you can store it in the fridge for a couple of days and reuse it.

How long does the pie last?

The pie will keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Ingredients

Makes 12 servings

Pastry (pie crust)

• 9 oz cold unsalted butter ((250g) plus extra for greasing)
• 3.5 cups Italian 00 Flour or Plain flour ((500g))
• 3 large eggs (plus 1 beaten egg for brushing)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• ¼ tsp baking powder

Filling

• 8 large eggs
• 1 cups ricotta ((250g))
• 2 cups salami (cubed (240g))
• 1 cup smoked Scamorza cheese (cubed (200g) can also use another firm cheese such as Fontina or Provolone.)
• ⅔ cup Pecorino Romano cheese (grated (40g))
• ¼ tsp black pepper (to season)

Method

Make the pastry

1. Mix the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder in a bowl. Tip into a food processor, add the cubed cold butter (9oz/250g) and blitz until it resembles fine crumbs.

2. Tip the butter and flour mixture back into the bowl, make a well in the middle and add 3 large beaten eggs.

3. Mix everything together until a dough starts to form then using your hands gently knead the dough to form a ball. You just want to bring the dough together until fully incorporated and smooth, don't over knead.

4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Make the filling

1. Cut the salami and smoked scamorza (or cheese of choice) into ½ inch cubes, set aside.

2. Mix 8 large eggs in a large bowl with the ricotta until smooth and most of the lumps have gone. Add the cubed salami (2 cups), Scamorza (1 cup), grated Pecorino cheese (⅔ cup) and black pepper and mix to combine.

To assemble

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F (180C) and grease a 9-10 inch pie dish with butter.

2. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut into two. Roll out the first half into a large rough circle about ¼ inch thick (3-4mm).

3. Place the dough over your pie dish and tuck in the edges. Pour the filling into the pie then roll out the second half of dough.

4. Place the top over the pie, press it very lightly so it touches the filling and press it up the sides of the pie dish so the filling is completely encased.

5. Trim the edges of the pie with a sharp knife and press the edges together with a fork to seal it. If you find the pastry isn't sticking together you can dab the edges lightly with water to help it stick.

6. Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg and make an incision in the middle to let steam out. Bake in the oven for 1 hour until golden brown and cooked through.

7. The pie is best eaten cold or slightly warm so let it cool before serving.

Kitchen notes

• Flavour variations you can pretty much choose any kind of meats and cheese you like. Mortadella, prosciutto cotto (ham) or any kind of salami will work. We prefer to cut it into cubes but you can also cut up slices if that's all you have.
• Cheese We used smoked Scamorza cheese which is mild and creamy but you can use almost any kind of firm cheese you like. We recommend Fontina, Provolone or Mozzarella.
• Less is more don't go overboard with the filling options we find that 1-2 meats and 1-2 cheeses (not including the ricotta) is all you need.
• No added salt if you use cured meat like salami you won't need to add any additional salt or the whole dish will be overly seasoned.
• Let it cool let the pie cool before cutting into slices.
• Serving suggestions Pizza Rustica is best served cold, it tastes so much better. We like to serve it as it is or will a fresh side salad like our simple arugula salad with lemon.
• Storage the pie will keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days.