Italian Easter Pie
Italian Easter Pie is something that I’d never heard of, let alone eaten, before I met my husband eight years ago. It’s basically a quiche, filled with hard-boiled eggs, meats and cheeses. I’m not a huge fan of the dish, but each year it grows on me just a little bit more. There’s something about the way his family prepares it that makes it unlike most of the recipes I’ve seen for it. I think it’s the hint of anise in the crust. Someday perhaps I’ll get the recipe, just to pass on the tradition to our kids. But until then, here’s a version I’ve put together from several I found online.
This recipe is for one 12″x16″ (30×40 cm) pie, which is big. It’s enough to feed your extended family for days. But Bob’s family ends up making more than half a dozen 9″x 12″ pies each year so maybe it’s not so big after all.
Italian Easter Pie
Dough
· ½ cup scalded milk
· 4 tbsp sugar
· 2 oz yeast
· 2/3 cup warm water
· 1 ½ tsp salt
· 2 eggs, beaten
· 7 tbsp soft butter
· 5 ½ cups sifted flour
1. Sprinkle yeast into water, let foam
2. Cool milk then whisk in salt, sugar and eggs
3. Make a well in the flour, add all the ingredients and yeast. Work it all into the flour.
4. Knead dough until soft but not sticky, about 7 to 10 minutes, then put into greased big bowl to rise
5. While dough is rising, work on meat
6. After it has risen, knead until satiny.
Meat
· 2 ½ lb loose Italian sausage
· 2 lb ham
Cheeses
· ¼ lb unsalted tuma cheese (substitute fresh mozzarella if it’s unavailable)
· ½ lb provolone, diced
· ¾ cup grated romano
· 1 ½ lb ricotta
· 1 lb mozzarella, diced
Eggs
· 9 hard-boiled eggs
· 6 eggs to mix with ricotta
1. Put sausage in a pan and sauté until it loses its color, then throw in the ham and mix together. Turn off the heat.
2. Mix ricotta and 6 eggs together and mix in with the meat
3. Chop hard-boiled eggs and grate cheeses. Mix together in a bowl separate from the meat.
4. Take two halves of dough and roll each into a flat 12×16 piece.
5. Use a fork to prick holes in one of the pieces of dough for ventilation.
6. Spread the cheese mixture on top of the dough you just poked, spread a layer of meat, another layer of the cheese, the rest of the meat, then top with remaining cheese.
7. Put the other piece of dough on top and seal it together like a pie, pinch the ends if you like. Prick the top piece of dough all over for ventilation
8. Bake in 350°F oven until golden brown (usually 35-40 minutes). After you take it out, brush the pie with a milk/egg yolk mixture to give it an even more golden tint.
Serve hot, cold, or room temperature.
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