Palmabella's Passions

Friday we leave for San Diego for a Slow Travel weekend. On Friday evening, we are looking forward to dinner with Jane and Ken. On Saturday, we will pick up Shannon, and meet Marcia and Dave, Cheryl and friends at Del Mar Racetrack. Saturday night we will meet up with Krista, Steve, and anyone else who can make it to The Vine for dinner. Hence the name of the event, "Pinot and Ponies", (even thought the ponies will come first).

At Shannon's request, I baked a savory torta, that my mom called "Pizza Rustica". This is a hearty dish full of eggs, ricotta, salami, prosciutto, ham, mozarella and pecorino!
In my family it was a holiday dish, traditionally made at Easter. Here is the recipe:

Dough

3 c. flour
1 stick unsalted butter
¼ c. olive oil
2 T. sugar
pinch of salt

Crust:
Combine flour, sugar, salt. Cream butter and blend with dry ingredients.
Stir in oil. Add 1/3-1/2 c. ICE WATER (1T. at a time ) until dough is consistency of pie crust. Knead, chill wrapped in plastic for 30 min. Roll 2/3 of the dough into a circle and place inside a 10” springform pan leaving an inch of overhang. Chill shell and the other half of the dough.

*I actually cut an 11" circle and press it into the bottom of the springform pan. Then I cut long strips to go around the inside edges of the pan, pressing them to fit like this:

Filling

2 lb. ricotta
9 eggs, beaten
½ lb. procsuitto (chopped)
½ lb. ham (chopped)
½ lb. salami or soprosatta (chopped)
1 ½ lb. grated mozzarella
6 oz. grated Pecorino Romano
½ t. pepper

Filling
In a LARGE bowl, combine eggs and ricotta. Stir in meats, cheeses and pepoper. Spoon into shell. Roll remaining dough to top and pinch edges. (I usually make a lattice top, or for Christmas, I cut out holly or tree shapes and overlap them on top in a design) Brush top with egg wash. (one egg yolk and 1 t. water). Bake at 350 1hr. 15 minutes. May be served warm or at room temp.

Here is what it will look like after an egg wash. I did no top crust this time.

Can you read my dough letters? Look closely!