Pizza Rustica With Sausage Spinach And Cheese Recipes

PIZZA RUSTICA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Cook and stir sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain.
• Mix Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, and eggs together in a bowl. Stir in sausage, prosciutto, and parsley.
• Roll 1 pie crust into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured work surface. Transfer to a pie plate, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Pierce crust all over with a fork. Spread cheese and sausage mixture over crust. Roll second pie crust into a 12-inch circle; place on top. Seal and flute edges. Cut several slits in the top crust to permit steam to escape.
• Bake in the preheated oven until center is set and crust is browned, about 1 hour.

SAUSAGE SPINACH PIZZA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add flour, oil, sugar, Italian seasoning and salt; beat on medium speed for 3 minutes or until smooth. Stir in Asiago cheese., Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5-6 minutes. Place in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turning once to coat the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Preheat oven to 425°. Punch dough down; divide in half. On a floured surface, roll each portion into a 13-in. circle. Transfer to two 12-in. pizza pans coated with cooking spray. Build up edges slightly. Prick dough thoroughly with a fork. Bake 5-8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned., Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Place tomatoes in a food processor; cover and pulse until finely chopped., Spread tomatoes over crusts; layer with spinach, sausage and provolone cheese. Bake 8-12 minutes or until crusts and cheese are lightly browned.

PIZZA RUSTICA (A SICILIAN SAUSAGE AND PROSCIUTTO PIE)

Steps:

• Place a piece of cheesecloth into a strainer, and place the ricotta cheese into the cheesecloth. Set a bowl underneath the strainer to catch drips, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight, to allow moisture to drip from ricotta.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Place sausage into a large skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir until browned and crumbly, about 10 minutes. Drain excess grease, and allow sausage to cool.
• Place the drained ricotta cheese into a large bowl, and stir in 5 beaten eggs and mozzarella cheese until well mixed. Mix in the cooked sausage, Parmesan cheese, parsley, prosciutto, and black pepper until thoroughly combined.
• Divide the pizza dough into fourths, and roll out 2 of the pieces into 12-inch circles. Fit the circles into 2 10-inch pie plates, leaving 1 inch of dough hanging over the edge. Divide the filling between the 2 pies. Roll out 2 top crusts, place onto the pies, and fold the edges of the bottom crusts over the edges of the top crusts to seal. Crimp and flute the edges of the pie crusts.
• Beat 1 egg with water in a small bowl, and brush the egg wash over the tops and edges of both pies. Cut several slits into the top crusts to vent steam.
• Bake pies in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then lower oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Continue to bake until the crust is browned and the filling is hot, 45 to 50 more minutes. Serve at room temperature.

CHEF JOHN'S PIZZA RUSTICA

Steps:

• Combine flour, salt, butter, and olive oil for the crust in a large bowl. Blend butter into the flour with a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour-butter mixture, pour egg into the well, and mix with a fork until egg is mixed in, about 1 minute. Add cold water and mix briefly with a fork. Switch to mixing with your hands and press mixture into a ball. If it seems dry, sprinkle in some more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until dough comes together.
• Transfer dough to a work surface and press into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rest for at least 1 hour.
• While the dough is resting, combine drained ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, Pecorino Romano cheese, salt, black pepper, beaten eggs, cooked Italian sausage, smoked ham, salami, and pepperoni for the filling. Mix thoroughly until extremely well combined; don't worry about overmixing. Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Rub a 9-inch springform pan with olive oil and dust with flour.
• Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut off 1/3 of the dough and set aside for the top crust. Roll out the remaining dough for the bottom crust, using only as much flour as needed, into a 15-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and transfer to the prepared pan. Tuck the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pan, being careful not to stretch it. Remove any excess dough, dampen it with water, and use it to fill in where needed.
• Transfer filling into the pan, press firmly into the edges to ensure there are no air pockets, and smooth out the top.
• Roll remaining dough into a circle that's slightly wider than the pan. Roll dough onto the rolling pin and transfer to the pan. Position the top crust properly and press to seal it with the side edges.
• Mix egg and water for egg wash together in a small bowl.
• Brush egg wash on top of dough to moisten entire surface. Trim off excess dough if desired. Fold the side dough down from the pan edges onto the top crust and crimp edges with your fingertips until fully sealed. Brush once more with egg wash.
• Place in the center of the preheated oven, and immediately reduce the heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake until top crust is a beautiful golden brown, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the ring and let cool another 15 minutes before slicing into wedges.

PIZZA RUSTICA WITH SAUSAGE, SPINACH AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Place flour and butter in a dish and place in the freezer.
• Stir together the egg yolk, salt, and water and place this in the refrigerator.
• After 10 minutes have passed, process the flour and butter just until it looks like cornmeal or coarse sand. Add the egg mixture to bind, and process until it just starts to come together.
• Dump the dough onto a clean work surface and push together with your hands. Divide dough into 2 parts, one slightly larger than the other, and form these into discs. Wrap in plastic and let rest in the refrigerator.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Wipe out the processor bowl a bit and process the onions.
• Pour into a large skillet or dutch oven with the olive oil. Saute over medium-high heat for about 8 minutes.
• Add sausage and use the spatula to mix into the onions. Continue to cook until sausage is slightly browned.
• Remove from heat and add spinach and ricotta cheese.
• Add most of the shredded cheese (save about 1/3 of it) and egg whites. Stir together very well (to incorporate the whites evenly).
• Continue with the pastry. Placing each disc between two sheets of plastic wrap, roll one out to be about the size of your springform pan. Roll the other out to be larger than the pan by about 2 ½ inches. (It will form the bottom and sides of your pie.)
• Take the top sheet off of the larger one and turn it onto the pan. Try to center it. Remove plastic and gently ease/press it into the pan.
• Into this sprinkle the cornmeal or breadcrumbs and then the remaining cheese.
• Spoon the filling into the crust. Do not overfill -- you may have extra filling. Place the top crust over this, and press the edges together with the bottom crust. Poke a few steam holes in the top, and bake about 40 minutes, or until the pie is golden.
• Let rest about 10 minutes before serving. Also great cold or warmed up the next day.

SUPER STUFFED FRENCH BREAD PIZZA RUSTICA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Split bread lengthwise and hollow it out. Cut in half across, making 4 shells for pizzas.
• Heat a skillet over medium high flame and brown sausage in extra-virgin olive oil. Brown and crumble sausage. Add red bell pepper, onion and garlic. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, add spinach. Remove mixture from heat and season with a pinch of salt and black pepper, to your taste.
• Transfer to a bowl. Combine sausage and veggies with ricotta, Parmesan, sopressata and pepperoni. Fill bread shells and top with mounded mozzarella and provolone cheeses. Place in hot oven on cookie sheet and bake until cheese melts and bubbles and bread is super crisp, about 10 to 12 minutes. Top pizzas with oregano and hot pepper flakes. Serve immediately, or snack all night!

PIZZA RUSTICA

Steps:

• 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.
• 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.

SPINACH PIZZA

Steps:

• Prepare pizza dough according to package directions. With floured hands, press dough onto a greased 12-in. pizza pan. , Spread Alfredo sauce over dough to within 1 in. of edges. Thinly slice or chop tomatoes; top pizza with spinach, tomatoes and cheese. , Bake at 450° for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.

PIZZA RUSTICA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375ºF.
• Brown sausage; drain. Beat eggs in large bowl; stir in sausage, cheeses, prosciutto and parsley.
• Line 9-inch pie plate with 1 pie crust; fill with meat mixture. Cover with remaining crust; seal and flute edge. Cut several slits in top crust to permit steam to escape.
• Bake 1 hour or until golden brown. Let stand 15 min. before serving.