Pizza Chiena Easter pasta pie
Ready in
2h 30 min
Preparation
1h 30 min
Cooking
60 min
Portions
6 person
Cost
medium
difficulty
easy
Savory Easter pie stuffed with pasta, salami, cheeses and eggs
Pizza Chiena a easter pasta pie of Cilento
The Pizza Chiena a Easter pasta pie, is another Cilento specialty that is made during the Easter period, it is an excellent savory tart stuffed with cheeses, eggs and salami, with a shell of shortcrust pastry where lard is used instead of butter, this makes it soft and crumbly.
The Pizza Chiena a easter pasta pie, is also called Cilento’s pastiera, not to be confused with the legendary Neapolitan Pastiera which is a dessert made with wheat, ricotta cheese and eggs.
Pizza Chiena a Easter pasta pie was born from the genius of the Cilento women of the past, hard times, with so many mouths to feed and little to eat and, in order not to make their children want the “Pizza chiena of Cilento”, they stretched the few cured meats they had available, with pasta or rice. Thanks to these grandmothers, today we can boast of three excellent cottages that are different from each other but united by the same root. Pizza Chiena a easter pasta pie or pastiera of Cilento is a kind of white baked pasta, without mozzarella but rich in cheese. It is ideal for outings, aperitifs and buffets.
Ingredients
Dough
- 400g/14oz flour 00
- 100g/3,5oz suet or lard
- 100ml water
- 1 egg
- 1 pinch of salt
Filling
- 200g/7oz pasta ditali o tubetti
- 100g/3,5oz semi-mature goat
- 100g/3,5oz provolone
- 100g/3,5oz bacon
- 100g/3,5oz soppressata or salami
- 100g/3,5oz prosciutto parma or capicollo
- 50ml extra virgin olive oil
- 10 eggs
- 1 pinch of pepper
Follow Us
Directions
First we prepare the dough for the puff pastry. Melt the lard over medium heat or in the microwave without frying it and let it cool
Pour the flour into a bowl or on a work surface, make a well and put the lard, egg, water and salt in the center
Begin to mix all the ingredients and then, knead vigorously for 5 minutes, until the dough is well compacted and elastic, wrap it in a cloth or film and let it rest in the fridge
Cook the pasta in salted water, halfway through cooking and drain it
Let it cool under running water, drain it well, put it in a large bowl and dress it with the oil
Cut the cured meats and provolone into cubes, grate the goat cheese
Add the cured meats and cheeses to the pasta, sprinkle with pepper
Beat the eggs, pour them into the pasta, mix well and leave to rest for 15 minutes
Grease and flour the pan, turn on the oven to 180°C/360°F
Roll out the dough into a very large and quite thin sheet
Cover the pan with the pastry letting it come out abundantly, then make it adhere well to the bottom and to the edges and prick the bottom with the prongs of the fork and do not cut the pastry that comes out from the edges
Mix the filling well, pour it into the pan and level it with 1 tbsp
With the excess dough coming out of the edges, turn it towards the center of the pan, making sure that with all the dough that comes out of the edges, you can cover all the filling. Finally we form a kind of drawstring for the whole edge
Prick the entire surface with the prongs, then brush it abundantly with the lard
Put in the oven and cook 1 hour or until it is golden brown
Once cooked, remove the pan and let it cool on a grill and cover it with a cloth
Tips
- The thimbles or tubes must be of a medium size, like those used for pasta and peas.
- If the filling should be a little dry after resting, add a few more eggs, it all depends on the size of the eggs and the cheese.
- To give that taste of authenticity, use local cured meats or buy them from a trusted butcher.
Storage
- It can be kept for 3-4 days at room temperature, always covered by a hood or a cloth, if desired it can also be kept for a few months in the freezer.
Equipments
- Carving knife
- Chopping board
- Bowl
- Rolling pin
- Pastry board
- Oven
- Stove
- 22-24cm/9-10in tray
- Kitchen brush
- Pot
- Colander
- Table Spoon
- Fork
- Small saucepan
- Tea towel
- Tray or platter
