COUNTRY CHEESE PIE

Pizza rustica

Naples - Campagna
Preparation - Medium
Serves 6

Pastry
3 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
3/4 cups softened butter
salt
2 small eggs, lightly beaten

Filling
1 1/4 cups Ricotta or good quality cottage cheese
1/2 pound smoked provola cheese, diced (try scamoraza Sicilian provolone as a substitute)
scant 1/2 pound mozzarella cheese, diced
1 2/3 cups grated Parmesan cheese
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 pound Parma ham or salami, diced
2-3 sprigs parsley, finely chopped
salt and pepper

Glaze
egg, beaten, to brush pastry

We would call this a pie, but it is a kind of pizza in Naples.

Sift the flour on to a pastry board or into a bowl and mix in the butter. Add a pinch of salt and the eggs. Work quickly, just enough to mix the ingredients to a dough. Put aside in a floured bowl and leave, covered, for 30 minutes.

Mix the four cheeses in a bowl, add the eggs, Parma ham or salami, parsley and a pinch of salt and pepper. Put aside.

Divide the dough into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Roll both pieces into round sheets - sufficient to cover a 12-inch pie pan. Line the pan with the larger sheet of pastry. Spread with the filling and cover with the remaining sheet of pastry.

Press the edges down firmly. Gather together the remaining ends of the pastry and roll them into a strip, like a thin cord. Press this lightly round the edges. Prick all over with a fork and brush with beaten egg. Bake in a moderate oven (375 degrees F. Mark 4) for about 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown

Serve warm or cold.

In winter, two Italian pork sausages are added to the pie. They are first fried until brown, then skinned, and the meat crumbled and spread over the bottom of the pastry before the rest of the filling is added.

Adapted from:
Italian Regional Cooking
Ada Boni
Bonanza