Pizza Rustica

An Italian Easter tradition since the 17th century, pizza rustica (AKA Italian Easter Pie) is the perfect centerpiece to your Easter brunch. With a flaky, buttery pie crust and a variety of cheeses, salami, and veggies, this quiche-like savory pie is not only great at Easter, but also a delicious brunch option year round. I love this classic version, but the filling can be adapted to whatever you have on hand. Ready to create this hearty, crowd-pleasing dish? Read on for all my top tips on how to make this holiday classic the best it can be.

What Is Pizza Rustica?

Similar to a quiche, pizza rustica starts with an enriched pie crust before being filled with eggs, cheese, fresh and cured meats, and spinach. For the filling, I chose to go with salami, spinach, and a variety of cheeses, but you can add any type of cured meats or cooked vegetables that you have on hand; I do, however, recommend trying to stick to the ratios here.

How To Make Pizza Rustica

INGREDIENTS

CRUST

• Flour: For the crust, I adapted my basic pie crust, steering it in a savory direction (no more sugar). All-purpose flour is the backbone of any crust that aspires to flakiness, offering good structure without making the crust overly tough.
• Butter: I use an ample amount of cold butter to ensure flakiness and good browning. Cold is critical here: The butter must be cold enough to remain solid when you work it into the flour, thereby creating pockets of fat. During baking those pockets release steam, separating the dough into layers and ultimately yielding the flaky texture we’re after.
• Eggs: In testing, I discovered that my basic pie crust wasn’t quite sturdy enough to support all the fillings, so I buttressed (and enriched) it with eggs to make it sturdier. Serendipitously, the addition of eggs also made the crust much easier to work with.

FILLING

• Italian Sausage: Sweet Italian sausage brings savory depth and a classic fennel-inflected flavor. I particularly love the way the sausage complements the grassy, mineral notes of the spinach.
• Garlic: I use a healthy amount of minced garlic to give the pie a bold, enticing aroma and to amplify the savory quality of sausage and cheeses.
• Baby Spinach: For a green veg, I opted for the supreme ease of baby spinach. Just toss it straight into the skillet and cook until wilted—no stemming or chopping required.
• Eggs: I use an ample number of eggs to give the filling a rich, custardy, quiche-like texture.
• Cheese: As lasagna has definitely proven, ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan form a synergistic, multi-dimensional, totally unbeatable trio of cheesiness.
• Salami: For a cured meat element, I went with salami, an ingredient with genuine umami superpowers, I love tangy, peppery kick it brings to the filling. If you’re looking for an alternative, pepperoni or soppressata make a great sub.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

First up, work on the dough. You’ll want to plan ahead a bit to allow for chilling time. Whisk the flour and salt in a large bowl until evenly combined. Add the cold butter to the flour and work it in with your hands, tossing, squeezing, and rubbing until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal with some pea-size piece interspersed. Don’t overwork the butter or you’ll scuttle your chance at flakiness. Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl until no streaks remain, then add them to the flour mixture and work them in with hands until incorporated. Mix in ice water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, just until the dough comes together. Remove one-third of the dough and pat it into a disk (this portion will serve as the top crust). Form the remaining dough into another disk. Wrap both disks in plastic and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

While the dough is chilling, tackle the filling. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium; Cook the sausage, breaking up it up with a wooden spoon, until cooked through (i.e., no signs of pink). Add the garlic and spinach and cook, stirring, until the spinach is wilted. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Combine the eggs, ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, and salami in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper. Add the cooled sausage mixture and mix until combined.

At this point you’ll want to preheat your oven to 375° and spray an 8" springform pan with cooking spray. Now for the assembly: Lightly dust a work surface and rolling pin with flour. Unwrap the large piece of dough on the work surface and roll it out to a 16" round, adding more flour to the rolling pin if the dough begins to stick. Roll the dough over the rolling pin and gently transfer it to the prepared pan, pressing the dough into the corners and sides; use pieces of the overhang to patch any tears and holes.

Spoon the filling into the crust and spread into an even layer. Re-flour your work surface and rolling pin and roll out the smaller piece of dough to a 12" round. Transfer to the pie and trim the overhang to about 1"; kitchen shears are ideal for this but a small, sharp knife works too. Working your way around the pan, fold dough the up and over, crimping the crusts together along the inside rim of the pan; if you leave any dough overhanging, it will make it hard to remove the pie from the springform.

Whisk together an egg wash—just beat an egg with about 1 Tbsp. water—and brush onto the pie. Cut a few steam vents in the top and you’re ready to bake.

Bake the pie until golden, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before unmolding. Slice and serve.

Full list of ingredients and directions can be found in the recipe below.

Recipe Tips

• The best pan for the nicest slice: A springform pan makes it much easier to slice and serve, so you can simply remove the sides. It's a tall dish, so you’ll want a pan that is nice and deep.
• The best way to measure your flour: Use too much flour and your crust will be tough and dense; not enough flour, and it’ll be too flimsy. Short of using a kitchen scale, the best way to guarantee the right amount of flour is to first fluff it in the bag and then to spoon it into a measuring cup; don’t pack it! Level off the flour with the handle of your spoon or the spine of a knife and you’re good to go.

Make Ahead

For all you preppers, pizza rustica can be made up to 5 days ahead. Let it cool completely, then wrap it—pan and all—tightly in plastic and refrigerate, or freeze up to 1 month. If freezing, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Reheat in a 350° oven until heated through, 20 to 30 minutes, loosely covering the crust with foil to prevent it from getting too dark.