Easter Pizza (Pizza Rustica)
The rest of the world calls this dish Pizza Rustica, but in our Italian American family, it is simply known as Easter Pizza. It is a special treat made just once a year, and once we cut into it, we allow ourselves to indulge in this meat, egg, and cheese filled pie for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My mom usually made this on Good Friday – a true test of our Catholic no-meat-on-Friday fast. We were allowed to “test it out” on Saturday, the day before Easter, just to make sure it was as it should be. It’s meant to be eaten at room temperature, or even cold. It can be served slightly warmed, but it’s a bit of an ooey-gooey mess when it first comes out of the oven, so resist the temptation to eat it right away. It definitely needs time to cool and “set”. My parents made this in a 9×13 pan and we would slice off little rectangles throughout the day, snacking here and there as we were preparing the rest of the food for our Sunday feast. On Easter morning, we cut ourselves a respectable slice for breakfast, enjoying every last bite. At Easter Dinner, 1 pm in our house, it was served pre-sliced on the table as an appetizer and again as a dinner “side” along with all the other delicious holiday treats.
I reached out to my siblings, father, and cousins for their versions of Easter Pizza to compare. Not surprising, we all had similar filling ingredients with only slightly differing amounts. My Dad and siblings use a pie crust, while my cousins use a biscuit and yeast based dough. Speaking of crust, feel free to use your favorite homemade pie crust recipe, but you can easily substitute pre-made pie crusts found in the refrigerator section of your grocery store.
When it comes to the filling, you will need both hard boiled and raw eggs, and a variety of soft and hard cheeses and meats. I also add parsley for color and a bit of freshness, but it’s optional. Traditionally, this was made with a Italian meats and cheeses such as mortadella, sopressata, scamorza (smoked) cheese, Italian basket cheese, etc. I’ve seen some recipes with cooked Italian sausage as well. In our Americanized version, however, we use ham (I often steal some of the Easter spiral sliced ham in the fridge), pepperoni, ricotta, romano, parmesan, cheddar, muenster, and a little mozzarella. If you buy ham from the deli, ask them to cut it thick (1/4 to 1/2 inch) so you can dice it. If you like prosciutto and provolone, feel free to use them to replace some of the cheddar and ham. Some families don’t add hard boiled eggs, using only the raw eggs as a binder. Hard boiled eggs are definitely important to our pies, however! I’ve also seen some traditional pies that have their ingredients layered instead of diced. As long as it has egg, meat and cheese, it will be delicious!
My family uses 9×13 pans or round pie pans for baking. With a much smaller crowd at my Easter table, I tend to halve the recipe and make it in a smaller pie or cake pan, or sometimes an 8×8 pyrex dish. Easter Pizza can also be made in a springform pan, as shown in some of these beautiful photos from my sister. Using a springform pan allows for a thick filling and an absolutely beautiful presentation. Thanks so much to my sister and dad for their Easter Pizza photos included in this post!
Easter Pizza (Pizza Rustica)
Ingredients
Filling
- 1 lb ricotta cheese
- 1 lb any combination of cheddar, provolone, muenster or fresh Italian Cheese shredded or chopped
- ½ lb mozzarella cheese or scamorza cheese shredded or chopped
- 1 stick pepperoni (8 ounces) cut in small pieces
- ½ lb ham cut into small pieces
- 6 hard boiled eggs chopped
- 8 raw eggs beaten well
- ½ cup romano, parmesan or a blend of both grated
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped or 1 tsp dried parsley optional
- salt and pepper very little salt is needed as the meats and cheese may already be salty
Crust
- refrigerated pie crust (2) OR make your own Will need 2 additional prepared crust if using 2 small size pie pans.
Egg pie crust (optional) – Makes enough for 9×13 or up to 9 inch springform pan
- 3 cups flour cold cubed
- 2 sticks or ½ pound of cold butter cubed
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2-4 tbsp ice cold water
Instructions
- Make your own pie crust (optional recipe below) or take refrigerated pie crusts out of the fridge. You will need enough for top and bottom of a 9×13 pan or up to a 9 inch springform pan. If you are making the crust from scratch, do it first, then chill it while you make the filling. If you are using 2-3 regular pie pans, the pie will be thinner with more crust, so you will need enough crust for top and bottom of 2-3 pies.
Filling
- Hard-boil eggs. Cool, peel, and chop into chunks
- Chop meats and shred or chop cheeses, if needed.
- Chop parsley (optional).
- In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients. Mix well.
- Roll pie crust so it overhangs the pan by a couple of inches. Place in sprayed/greased pan. You can use a 9×13 pan, two pie pans, or a springform pan. You use about 2/3 of the dough for the bottom and sides, and 1/3 for the top crust.
- Fill pie with egg, cheese, and meat mixture.
- Top with pie crust. Crimp the edges so filling does not ooze out. Poke holes in the dough and brush with a milk or an egg wash (beaten egg with a little water). Egg wash will yield a better shine.
- Bake at 350° for 45-90 minutes, depending on the pan size and amount of filling. Place on the bottom rack of the oven. A filled springform pan may take up to 75-90 minutes due to its depth. The other pans will take closer to an hour. Start checking around 45 minutes. Cover with foil if it browns before it is done.
Pie crust (homemade)
- In a large food processor or bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the butter cubes until its coarse. Add beaten eggs.
- Add ice water one tablespoon at a time until it comes together.
- Wrap the pastry with saran wrap and chill for 30 minutes to an hour.
Notes
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