Italian Easter Pie

Italian Easter Pie, a double-crust "stuffed pizza" filled with ham, eggs, and cheese, is traditionally eaten in Italian households the day before Easter.

Hands-on: 25 to 35 min | Bake: 25 min
Total: 2 hr 5 min to 3 hr 15 min | Yield: 2 large pies

Ingredients

Crust

• 5 cups Italian-Style Flour or 4 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour*
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons King Arthur Easy-Roll Dough Improver (optional, but very helpful); or nonfat dry milk
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons lukewarm water*

Filling

• 1 dozen large eggs, divided
• 1 pound good-quality, full-flavored ham
• 2 cups ricotta cheese, part-skim preferred
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, lightly packed
• Salt, coarsely ground black pepper, and chopped fresh parsley, to taste

Glaze

• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Instructions

Crust

1. Mix and knead together all of the dough ingredients — by hand, in a mixer, or in a bread machine — until you've made a soft, smooth dough.
2. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and allow it to rise for 1 to 2 hours, until it's quite puffy, nearly doubled in bulk. While the dough is rising, make the filling.

Filling

1. Hard-boil and peel 6 of the eggs.
2. Place the hard-boiled eggs, ham (cut in chunks), and fresh parsley (1/2 cup or so) in the work bowl of a food processor. Process until chopped and combined. Don't over-process; the ham and eggs should still be a bit chunky. You can also simply dice the eggs and ham, and chop the parsley, if you don't have a food processor.
3. Combine the ham, boiled eggs, and parsley with the raw eggs, ricotta, and Parmesan. Season to taste with salt and about 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper. If the ham is salty, you may not need any salt at all.
4. Deflate the dough, and divide it into four pieces.
5. Roll two of the dough pieces into rounds about 13 inches in diameter, and place them on lightly greased or parchment-lined 12 inch pizza pans. Or roll into ovals about 10 x 14 inches, and place on two lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets. Note: If you're using parchment, it's easiest to roll right on the parchment, then lift the crusts, parchment and all, onto the pans.
6. Divide the filling evenly between the two crusts, covering them to within 1 inch of their edges. You'll use a generous 3 cups (about 27 ounces) for each crust.
7. Roll out the other two pieces of dough, and place them atop the filled crusts, gently stretching them, if necessary, to cover the filling. Seal the crust edges by rolling the bottom crust up over the top, and pinching together.
8. Using a sharp knife or pair of scissors, cut a 1-inch hole in the very center of each top crust; this will allow steam to escape.

Glaze

1. Whisk together the egg and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Paint each crust with some of the topping; this will yield a golden brown, shiny crust with mildly sweet flavor, a perfect foil for the salty ham.
2. Allow the pies to rest while you preheat oven to 350 degrees F, about 15 minutes. They don't need to be covered.
3. Bake the pies for about 25 minutes, until they're a deep, golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and carefully slide them off the pan/parchment and onto on a rack to cool.
4. Serve warm or at room temperature. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Notes

* If you use all-purpose flour, increase the water to 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces)

Attribution

Recipe and photo used with permission from: King Arthur Flour