You haven't. Well, good for you. Annalena shall be sending a curse your way shortly, for she has experienced ALL of this in the days since she last visited with you. Some of you who are learned, will remember W. B. Yeats' poem "The Second Coming," and the line "The center will not hold." Well, Annalena's center has held, but barely , over these past few weeks. For those of you who are less learned in poetry, but know your television, think of a Star Trek episode when the forces attacking the Enterprise are just over the tested limits of the shield, the ship is shaking, everyone is terrified, but things hold. And everyone takes a big sigh of relief.
Well, Annalena is doing that now. She THINKS that things are coming together, and hopes that they stay that way. She accounted for the extra week she thought she had (don't ask), and is now caught up (she thinks). And she comes your way with a recipe you should have had before Easter in case you felt ambitious, but put it aside. Or, make it now. Pizza, or torta rustica, used to be one of Annalena's "go to" dishes. She stopped making it, because it is so big, and when you make a dish, traditionally saved for holidays, for everyday use, it loses its festive tone.
Think about it: for those of you who love a roast turkey, would Thanksgiving be the same if you had a roast turkey once or twice a month? Annalena thinks not. So she brings out this recipe at Easter, sometimes at Christmas, and not at other times.
It is southern Italian in origin, and traditionally, it is said to be a Neopolitan recipe. Indeed, you will find it in bakeries that trace their origin to Naples, but in others as well. And as the recipe has gone through time, it has changed. The one Annalena presents here is , as far as she knows, as close to the traditional as she can find. It seems to be a common one, with the exception of the peas, which were Annalena's addition to give some color, and because the Guyman likes peas.
Many southern Italian recipes that are cooked around Easter use ricotta in copious quantities. The reason for this, ragazzi, is that ricotta, like any dairy product that is made fresh, will change in flavor from place to place, and from time to time. Milk, and cheese, are dependent on what the animals who produce the milk, eat. In early spring, the grasses, the flowers, etc, are young, and very delicate. So, too, is the milk. And hence, so is the cheese. As the year goes on, the flavors will get stronger. There is nothing wrong with that, nothing at all. You simply have to learn, ragazzi, that like the song says "to every season." And learn that even things you may take for granted, like cheese and milk, and eggs, have their season.
With this in mind, Annalena gives the same admonition that she gives every time she presents a recipe using ricotta: USE THE BEST STUFF YOU CAN FIND AND DO NOT USE THE STUFF THAT ENDS IN AN O AND COMES IN A BIG PLASTIC CYLINDER. Seriously, ragazzi, there are enough artisanal cheese and milk producers these days that, with a little looking, you can get truly good stuff. From sheep. From goats. From cows. Perhaps from buffalo. And if you can't, MAKE IT YOURSELF. Ricotta is easy to make and the internet abounds with instructions on how to do it.
So, let's make a torta rustica. First, we need a dough. And this dough is very easy and fun. It is not a challenge like some others. You will enjoy this dough, and wonder why you don't use it for more things. And indeed, you can. You're going to be filling a deep, 9 inch springform here, so you'll have a lot of stuff to work with. Use your mixer, or your fingers. Put two cups of all purpose flour into a bowl, and then add a half stick of cold, unsalted butter, that you have cut into very small cubes. Add half a teaspoon of sugar. Annalena does not add sugar, but most recipes call for a tablespoon of it here. Use your fingers or the paddle of your mixer, to work this until you are getting a fine crumb, as if you were making pie crust (because you ARE making pie crust). When you have it, put in two large eggs, at the same time, stir it all together and the minute the dough comes together, stop. Every recipe Annalena has looked at says the dough will be sticky and hard to work with at this time, but she finds this to be false. Now, gather it up, and then do your best to divide it into a portion that is 2/3 of the whole, and the remaining 1/3. Separate them, wrap them, and let them chill. Overnight.
The next day, take the dough out to soften, go about your business, and about five hours after you have taken the dough out, get your filling together. It's very easy. You need a pound and a half of that supergood ricotta, a hefty cup of diced mozzarella and the same amount of provolone (need Annalena repeat herself about the quality of the ingredients?) Put these in a bowl. IF you are making the traditional one, you now chop up a quarter pound of good quality prosciutto. Some recipes use cooked, cold crumbled sausage, and this is good too. Others, which are completely vegetarian, will replace the meat with chopped artichoke hearts. It's all good, ragazzi. Add some pepper, some salt, and grated parmesan- four ounces. Again, don't let Annalena even THINK you're using the stuff in the green box. Add six large eggs, and if you are using them, a cup of thawed, green peas. Annalena likes to make this at the time she's filling her torta, but some would have you let it sit in the fridge. It is, again, your call.
Let's get baking. Preheat your oven to 400. Get the bigger piece of dough, and roll it out on a floured surface. Be generous with your time on this, and rolling it out, because it has to fill that whole springform pan, and hang over it a bit. You will find that the eggs make the rolling rather easy, as they sort of "plasticize" the dough. Annalena repeats that it is a pleasure to work with. Fit it into your pan, and if it's not big enough, roll some more. You'll get there.
And when you do, dump all that filling in, and then put it aside, while you roll out the remaining third of the dough. Put that on top, and now take the overhang, bring it in, and crimp the edges, the way you see fancy pies (this crimping is Annalena's favorite piece of the dish, by the way.). When you are done, then cut a big cross in the top of the thing. Annalena always hesitates here, because some people dress the dish with a beaten egg at this point, but Annalena is always glad she didn't. Put this contraption on a baking sheet, slide it in the oven, and after twenty minutes, drop the heat to 375.
You will need to bake it for another 45 minutes to an hour. It is very hard to overbake this pie, so if Annalena were you, she wouldn't worry. But you must NOT eat it for at least four hours, and preferably longer, after it's done. This needs to solidify. And it will solidify better in the refrigerator, but it will work at room temperature.
This is what Annalena's looked like:
Not too bad, huh ragazzi? Make it, and let Annalena see. She wants to know what her army is cooking
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