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Italian Meat pie with Rapini Cut open

Italian Meat Pie | Pizza Rustica

Italian Meat Pie. An Italian speciality generally prepared for Easter, but we make it througout the year. Stuffed full of riccota, sausage and broccoli rabe.
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Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Resting Time 15 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 45 minutes
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 10 ounces Sweet or Spicy Sausge with the Casing off we suggest using bulk to eliminate this hassle
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic Fresh garlic cloves are even better

If Making Broccoli Rabe Plain And Not as in My Other Recipe

  • 2 heads cooked broccoli rabe (clean and steam this (or follow my recipe mentioned in the post above) Rapini is the same so use it if you find it
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and slit (only add this if you are cooking the broccoli rabe per the below instructions, otherwise follow the inrgedients and instructions on my other post as inidicated the post above. )
  • 3 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1/2 c water
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 c (17 Oz) Whole Riccota Cheese (strained if there is any liquid)
  • 4 large Eggs (beaten)

For the Ricotta and Egg Mixture

  • 12 ounces Freshly grated mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2-3/4 c Pecorino Romano Cheese grated
  • 3 tbsp Italian Breadcrumbs

Italian Pastry Crust (top and bottom)

  • 2/3 c cold water
  • 1/4 tbsp softened butter pieces sliced but not hard
  • 1/4 c Olive Oil
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2.5 c all purpose flour
  • .25 packet Quick Rise Instant Yeast (bread machine yeast)
  • 1 egg Set aside, do not add to the recipe, it is to be used on the top pastry crust .Large beaten with 1 tbsp of water (for pastry top before baking)

Instructions
 

For the Pastry Dough

  • Using a bread maker add in above listed ingredients according to your machine's instructions, and place on 'dough' cycle.
  • While the dough is in the bread machine you will prepare the sausage and ricotta filling

Sausage Prep

  • Remove the sauage from the casing and place it in the chosen frying pan with the minced garlic and the olive oil. (we suggest bulk sausage it has no csaing on it)
  • Cook this on medium heat, and move the meat around to smash it and crumble into small pieces.
  • Once the meat is browned, and fully cooked, remove it from the heat and set it aside.

For the Broccoli Rabe (Rapini)

  • In a large skillet, place the rinsed, clean, chopped broccoli rabe with the olive oil
  • Add in olive oil, water and the garlic cloves, then the salt
  • Cover, and cook on medium heat to steam and wilt and reduce
  • After 20-25 minutes, the bright green will have turned to dark green and the broccoli rabe will be cooked.
  • Remove from the heat and mix with the sausage. Then set aside

Riccota Filling

  • In the large bowl that the eggs were whipped in, add in the ricotta cheese and mix to combine.
  • Add in the pecorino romamo and the shreeded mozzarellla and the breadcrubms and again mix to combine.
  • Add to this mixture the sausage and broccoli rabe and mix to combine well.
  • Preheat Oven to 350°F

The Dough Cycle Ends And Now Build the Italian Meat Pie

  • At the end of the cyle, remove the dough and separate it into 2 pieces. 1 piece that is 1/3 and the other is 2/3
  • From the 2/3, lightly sprinkle either parchment paper or your counter and roll the dough into a 16" piece to fit a 9.5" Springform pan.
  • make sure to butter your springform pan for easy release
  • Once you have rolled out your pastry dough into the 16" you will place the dough into the springform pan, note that it will drape over the edges.
  • You should then crimp the overhanging dough, and make sure that the circle fits nicely into the pan. If you need to make any repairs use the excess dough that is hanging to patch and then set the base aside.
  • Next you will roll flat, then cut your top circle out into a 9" round, and set it aside.
  • Now, add the filling to the base the cover with the round top pastry
  • Make sure to put a few slits in the top pastry in order to allow it to vent!
  • Brush the top pastry with the egg wash (egg whisked and water added)
  • Bake for up to 1 to 1.5 hours
  • Remove from the oven and allow this to sit on the cooling rack for about 1/2 hour to fully set. Then serve
  • Refrigerate any leftovers and you can read in the post all other storage suggestions.
  • Enjoy !!

Notes

See Blog post for tips on storage
Read blog post to find out how to bypass making a pastry crust (the shortcut) that does not change the taste or the quality