Pizza Rustica

I'm either a day late for serving

Pizza Rustica,

or 

a month early.

This savory Italian pie,

Pizza Rustica,

 is served for 

Carnevale

the day before Ash Wednesday

or Easter Sunday.

It's fun learning new culinary traditions.

For the photo tutorial process,

head over to the Alpha Bakers.

I felt lucky just to get this made,

mistakes and all.

First off, I couldn't find the dried thyme I bought

so ran outside and picked fresh from my herb container pot,

hoping I was actually clipping thyme in the dark.

Secondly I forgot to add the pecorino cheese into the ricotta mixture

and slap dash sprinkled it over the top.

Since I don't eat meat,

ham was added to half.

No spicey meat eaters in the house.

For my side, I sauteed mushrooms,

layered artichoke hearts and fresh basil.

It took much longer to bake than the recipe 

indicated. Thank goodness for 

instant read thermometers.

It's an interesting dish with

the sweetened crust.

The mushrooms and basil really off set it.

Curious, I read many different

versions and the sweetened dough

is standard but not required.

It seems the basic mixture

of eggs, ricotta and cheeses

can be varied with almost anything.

I'm glad we made this because I never

would have attempted it on my own.

I like it.

I'll make it again without ham and

add even more mushrooms, 

but I'm leaving out the sugar in the crust.

While once was okay, I definitely would prefer it without.  

~

The Baking Bible

by 

Rose Levy Beranbaum