Food Network: Pizza Rustica

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Pizza Rustica
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 (12-ounce) bunches fresh spinach, stemmed, coarsely chopped (about 12 cups), or 1 (10-ounce)
package frozen cut-leaf spinach, thawed and drained
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta
12 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, coarsely chopped
4 large egg yolks, beaten to blend
Pastry Dough, recipe follows
1 large egg, beaten to blend

Instructions
Position the rack on the bottom of the oven, and preheat the oven to 375

degrees F.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add the sausages and saute
until golden brown, breaking the sausage into pieces, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute
until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the same frying pan over medium heat. Add the spinach and
cook until the spinach wilts and the juices evaporate, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Cool to
room temperature. Squeeze the spinach to drain as much liquid as possible.

Into a large bowl, add egg yolks and beat lightly. Stir in the ricotta, mozzarella, and 1/3 cup of
Parmesan cheese. Add the sausage, the spinach and prosciutto to the mixture and stir to combine.

Roll out larger piece of dough on a lightly floured work surface to a 17-inch round. Transfer the
dough to a 9-inch springform pan. Trim the dough overhang to 1 inch. Spoon the ricotta mixture into
the dough-lined pan. Roll out the remaining piece of dough into a 12-inch round. Place the dough
over the filling. Pinch the edges of the doughs together to seal, then crimp the dough edges
decoratively. Brush the beaten 1 large egg over the entire pastry top. Sprinkle the remaining 2

tablespoons Parmesan over the top. Bake on the bottom shelf until the crust is golden brown, about 1
hour.

Let stand 15 minutes. Release the pan sides and transfer the pizza to a platter. Cut into wedges and
serve.

Pastry Dough:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup cold solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, beaten to blend
2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

Blend the flour, the butter, the shortening and salt in a food processor until the mixture resembles
coarse meal. Blend in the eggs. With the machine running, add the water 1 tablespoon at a time until
the dough forms. Gather the dough into a ball. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, with 1 piece twice as

large as the second piece. Flatten the dough pieces into disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate
until the dough is firm enough to roll out, about 30 minutes.

Yield: 2 dough pieces (enough for 1 Pizza Rustica)
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 30 minutes