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Pizza Rustica

Loosely meaning 'rustic pizza' this pie is homely, comforting and hearty.
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Servings: 8
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

Pizza Dough Crust
  • 375 ml warm water
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 7 g instant dried yeast
  • 600 g strong/Baker's flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • i egg, extra, beaten with 1 tbsp water (egg wash)
Filling
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 250 g rindless bacon, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
  • ½ brown onion, peeled and chopped
  • 500 g fresh ricotta, drained
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese, cut into roughly 2cm cubes
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
  • ¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated
  • 250 g Pepperoni or Cacciatore sausage, diced
  • ¼ cup fresh flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten

Method
 

Make the Pizza Dough
  1. Put the water, sugar and yeast in a small jug, stir and let sit for 5 minutes, or until foamy.
  2. Mix the flour in a large bowl, make a well in the centre. Pour in the yeast mixture and the olive oil and use your hands to mix the flour together. Knead until you have a smooth springy ball of dough. (Alternatively you could do all this in an electric stand mixer fitted with a dough hook).
  3. Drizzle a little olive oil into a large bowl, place the dough in and turn to coat, cover with cling wrap and place in a warm place for 1 hour, or until dough has doubled in size. Alternatively place in the fridge and allow to rise slowly overnight.
Make the Filling
  1. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Crumble the sausage meat and add to the pan with the bacon and onion. Cook, stirring until meat is cooked, bacon is almost crisp and onion translucent. Add garlic and sauté another minute. Set aside to cool.
  2. In a large bowl combine the ricotta, Cheddar, Parmesan, sausage, herbs and cooked meat mixture. Add the eggs and a good grinding of black pepper and thoroughly mix.
Make the Pizza Rustica
  1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
  2. Cut the pizza dough into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Roll out the larger piece so that it is big enough to line a pie tin with a 3cm overhang (my tin is about 25cm). You want it nice and thin. 
  3. Fill the pie with your mixture.
  4. Now roll the remaining dough and place over the top, pinching the overhanging edges inward to seal. Make a couple of slits with a sharp knife in the centre to allow the steam to escape.
  5. Brush all over with egg wash and place in the oven.
  6. Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 150°C (300°F) and cook for a further 40 minutes, or until the pie-crust is golden.
  7. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Best at room temperature.