Pizza Rustica

An Italian friend of my mother gave me a piece of what she called Pizza Rustica.

It's an Italian tradition from the south of Italy to make and serve this at Easter.

It's also called Pizzachino, or Easter pie.

It's essentially a meat pie, featuring eggs, cheese and preserved meats like salami, inside a pastry crust.

I've never heard of it before, and it's wonderful. I've asked my mom's friend for her recipe, but I found these as well:

Here's a recipe from NYT.

Another recipe with a video.

Has anyone else heard of this?

Haggis said:

Never heard of it but it sounds wonderous.

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It's wonderful. My mom's friend says that traditionally it would be made on Good Friday, which is still part of Lent, so they would make it but not eat it until Easter, after Mass.

Red Rajah's Quiche on Steroids is a great descriptions. The sample I had was made using prepared store bought pie pastry; she says hers, used specifically for this dish, was more bread like in texture.

I am definitely going to be making this, and it strikes me as a wonderful Easter tradition.

benbenberi said:

All the Italian bakeries around New Haven make Easter pies like this - ham pie/pizzagaina, also rice pies, ricotta pies, & other special seasonal pies. They're very popular, so you have to order them weeks in advance from the good places!

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I wish I lived someplace that had Italian bakeries; I'm also intrigued by the St. Jospeph's day tradition of Zeppole.