Pizza Rustica: Gran Fran's Epic Easter Pie

natasha March 12, 2013

I'm at my desk, working. A package arrives. It's from N.Y.C. I don't even need to look at the address, due to the way it's packed, I know it's from Gran Fran.

Her typical packing-box style requires a recycled box from Amazon, or some other online retailer, and a piece of 81/2 x 11 printer paper with my name and address written on it in large black Sharpie. The final touch, which is the real reason I know it's a Gran-Fran delivery, is the copious amounts of packing tape she uses. I think she believes someone will tamper with her precious cargo, whether it's books, food or toys. The tape is layered on so thick and tight you can't get into the box without a very heavy duty box cutter. No scissors can make a dent in her packaging.

What is in the box this time is well worth protecting, with as much packing tape as one has available. Gran-Fran has sendt her yearly Easter package complete with bread baskets with Easter eggs nestled inside, chocolates for Iz and little trinkets. Oh, but the best food in the package are the Italian pie.

Gran-Fran's Pizza Rustica is like nothing I've ever tasted. And, I can re-create the pie (see the recipe below), but it is oh-so-special to receive these in the mail every year. It's like a little gift just for me, since Iz does not like either of the pies.

The Pizza Rustica is a savory pie, which most will refer to as a heart-attack-on-a-plate when they hear what's in it, but well worth throwing caution to the wind to experience the salty goodness. It involves not one, not two, but FOUR kinds of meat, three kinds of cheese, ricotta and six eggs. Not good for those of us with high cholesterol (me) or high blood pressure (salt-tastic), but again it only happens once a year, so I make sure to eat light when I know the box is on its way.

Okay, back to the present day. Once the package arrives, and I spend hours removing the packing tape, I reach in and smell the goodness. Each pie is wrapped in its own wrapper. Again, in true Gran-Fran fashion, the pies are placed in waxed paper (2 layers, thank you very much) then wrapped in aluminum foil, then snuggled into plastic bags. She then scotch-tapes them closed with a small scrap of white paper identifying which pie is for which daughter. Again, the unwrapping begins, and once I have made it to the actual pie, I am in heaven.

To be clear, Gran-Fran is the reigning queen of freezing fresh goods and sending them across country. She once made several hundred cupcakes for a party here in SF, froze them, wrapped them in the above fashion and shipped them out. They got lost in the mail, arrived about a week later, and were still frozen. So, there is no need to fear the freshness factor of her shipped pies, since they are likely to still be slightly frozen, if not very cold, upon arrival.

I am back at my desk, with the box open, the pies unwrapped and a napkin on my lap. Even though they taste better heated up, I don't bother. I just eat them out of the box, Homer Simpson-style right there and then. So good! And, no sharing, either. I can make these pies last for two to three weeks, even though it's usually just a quarter of each pie.

So, a big thank you to Gran Fran for fulfilling my Easter wish of meat, eggs, cheese and deliciousness.

Buona Pasqua!!

PIZZA RUSTICA (also known as Pizza Chiena)

recipe courtesy of Fran Claro, The Italian Pantry

Crust:

If you prefer, you can use 4 store bought 9" pie shells. Just shaped them into the bottom of your baking dish, making sure there are no holes in the dough.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

* 4 1/2 cups unbleached flour * 3/4 teaspoon salt * 3 sticks ice-cold unsalted butter, diced * 1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water

1. Combine flour and salt. Use a pastry blender or an electric mixer at low speed to work butter into flour mixture, and form coarse crumbs. 2. Gradually add enough water to form a dough that just sticks together. Wrap dough in waxed paper and refrigerate while preparing filling.

PIZZA RUSTICA FILLING

(All meats and cheeses should be thickly sliced and diced into 1/2 inch cubes.)

* 1/4 pound prosciutto * 1/4 pound Genoa salami * 1/2 pound soppresatta salami * 1/4 pound Sicilian salami * 1/2 pound conventional mozzarella, or scamorza * 1/4 pound fontina cheese * 1/4 pound asiago cheese * 2 cups whole-milk ricotta, drained well * 6 eggs * Freshly ground pepper to taste

For Glaze

* 1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tablespoon milk

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, combine all meats and hard cheeses; set aside. In another bowl, beat together ricotta, eggs, and black pepper; set aside. 2. Divide dough in two, with one piece slightly larger than the other. On a lightly floured board, roll out larger piece of dough, and gently fit it into a 9 x 12 (approximately) nonreactive casserole dish; leave an overhang of an inch or two of dough. Roll out second piece of dough to fit over top; set aside. 3. Pour combined meats and cheeses into pastry-lined dish; pour ricotta-egg mixture over the filling. 4. Moisten the edge of the bottom crust with water. Add top crust. Roll edges of top and bottom crust together; flute edges. 5. Brush top crust with egg/milk glaze. Cut a circle in top crust to allow steam to escape. 6. Place casserole on baking sheet. Bake for 75 minutes or until the tip of a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. 7. Place on cooling rack; allow to come to room temperature before slicing. Serve at room temperature or cold. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Everybody Loves Gluten Free Pizza!

natasha July 11, 2012

I made pizza for my friends one night recently. Here's what we put on them....

And let me show you a few of the other toppings we used, along with links to the recipes!

Make my vegan bolognese sauce for your pizza. One recipe will yield at least five pizzas with plenty leftover for a few bowls of pasta, too.

Gluten-free pizza dough can be made at home, following this recipe. Or, you can buy a ball of dough at your local pizza place. In San Francisco, there are several places that offer GF pizza dough.

Top your pizza with roasted veggies, anchovies, an egg, cheese, or anything else you can think of.

We used thisEnglish snap pea and lemon spread on a white pizza with an egg and some anchovies. Delightful!

Anchovies. Need I say more?

(the above pizza is made with regular pizza dough from the local pizza place)

Pizza can be made on the grill, for those of you in those super hot areas of the country right now. I hope you enjoy these topping ideas and please do share your own favorite toppings with me.

This pizza is made with the GF pizza dough recipe featured above and here.

Pizza In Five

natasha November 15, 2011

Remember when I told you all about the Foodbuzz Festival? Well, while I was there, I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the book Pizza in Five by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. I made their gluten free pizza crust dough and I certainly was pleased with the results.

It has been really challenging adhering to a gluten-free (and dairy-free) diet this past year, so when I saw their recipe I was excited to try it. There are a lot of ingredients, some of which you just won't have in your pantry, but all of which were well worth purchasing. I found most everything I needed between Whole Foods and Safeway. I also know our local organic co-op sells all of the ingredients in bulk. At the bulk stores you have the option of buying smaller quantities.

The crust had a great chewy quality to it, but it was also crisp, which is something I've been missing with other gluten-free doughs I've experimented with.

Oh, and there are tons of other people cooking from this fantastic book and posting their results to #PizzaPartyIn5 today, so go and check it out!

Herewith, are the step-by-step photos of what I did to make this delicious pizza. I'll post the recipe and the instructions soon, but was excited to get this up for everyone to enjoy.

Gluten-Free Pizza Dough

from Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois

Ingredients:

2 cups Brown Rice Flour
2 cups White Rice Flour
2 cups Tapioca Flour (aka Starch)
1 1/2 cups Cornmeal
2 tbsps Granulated Yeast
1-1 1/2 tbsps Kosher Salt (I used Fleur de Sel)
2 tbsps Xantham Gum
3 1/4 cups Lukewarm Water
1/2 cup Olive Oil
2 large Eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsps Sugar, Honey, Malt Powder or Agave Syrup (I used Honey)

Method:

Mixing and Storing the dough: Whisk together the flours, cornmeal, yeast, salt, and xantahn gum in a 5 quart bowl, or a lidded, (not airtight) food container.
Combine all the liquid ingredients with the sweetener and add the mixture to the dry ingredients, using a spoon, 14 cup food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle), until all of the dry ingredients are well incorporated. You may have to use wet hands to get the last bit of flour to incorporate if you're not using a machine.
Cover (not airtight), and allow it to rest at room temperature until the dough rises, approximately 2 hours.
The dough can be used immediately after its initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate it in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days. Or store the dough for up to 3 weeks in the freezer in 1/2 pound portions. When using frozen dough, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before use.
On pizza day, break off a piece of the dough. It will not have any stretchiness like wheat doughs.
Roll out the dough directly on a pizza peel, (I rolled mine right onto my stainless countertop with flour on it) covered generously with flour and cover the dough with plastic wrap.
Roll into a 1 1/8 inch thick round.
As you roll out the dough, use a dough scraper to make sure the dough isn't sticking to the peel (or whatever surface you're using); add more flour if needed.
Gently pull off the plastic wrap, and top.

Put the Pizza Together and Bake It:

my own interpretation of the method from the book

Turn oven up to highest setting (mine was 500 degrees).
Put your pan in the oven to get it as hot as possible.
Prepare all your ingredients: I used bacon, chanterelle mushrooms, potatoes, tomatoes, pesto, and egg.
Roll out the dough as described above.
Remove the pan from the oven (must do this quickly so the pan doesn't cool down too much). Add some olive oil.
Using a flat stainless scraper to pick it up and put it on the super hot pan.
Working quickly, add all your toppings (see photos below, I have them in order of ingredient application).
Finish with the cracked egg on top, and add a bit of olive oil and spices.

Bake in the hot oven for about 10 minutes, or until the edges are browned and the egg has set.

Enjoy!

Fig and Speck Pizza

natasha October 28, 2011

My mother grew up in an Italian-American family in Brooklyn. Gran Fran, my mother, has for all sorts of recipes, both old and new. Her favorites were passed down from her Nonna (the typical Italian grandma) and her mother. In turn, over the years, she has passed along her considerable collection of recipes and food facts to all of her children and now her grandchildren.

Recently, I asked Gran Fran about the difference between speck and pancetta. She told me speck is more like a black forest ham, cured, whereas pancetta is raw and needs to be cooked. She then shared this Fig and Speck Pizza recipe with me.

There are a lot of ingredients here, but it's a simple process to put the whole thing together. I bought pizza dough since I've never had much luck with making my own. The fun part comes when you spread everything out and grate that final sprinkling of parmesan over the top.

Have fun with this and enjoy your Fall!

recipe courtesy of Fran Claro of The Italian Pantry.