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Rustication
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WE ARE immensely fortunate in Victoria to have not only a first class market, and an excellent fishmonger but also one of the best Italian delicatessens in London, Gas- tronomia Italia, and they are all in Tach- brook Street, Upper and Lower. The delicatessen is run by Mario Diannunzio (what a name to conjure with) a splendid Glaswegian Italian with large moustachios. They have the most exciting salamis and sausages from all over Italy and produce daily, fresh pizzas at lunch time. There is always a queue; but the thing I find irrestistible is a huge cake-shaped bread they make called rustica full of delicious morsels of the different meats and made from the pizza dough. This is how they make it, as far as I can gather.
Rustica bread
1 lb plain flour 1 level teaspoon of salt 1 oz fresh yeast lh pint tepid water 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 egg 6 oz chopped mixed meats, (salami, mor- tadella, prosciutto ham etc.) black pepper a few black olives, stoned.
Blend the yeast with the water, add the oil. Mix into the flour until you have a pliable dough which leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a floured board and knead and stretch for about seven minutes or do the whole thing in a food processor in a moment. Make it into a ball and leave in an oiled bowl, covered, in a warm place until it has doubled its size. When it has risen turn out on to a board and lightly knead the chopped meats, the beaten egg, ground pepper and salt into it, including any chopped ham fat. Place in an oiled cake tin, brush the top with a little beaten white of egg and bake in a preheated oven at Gas 4, F400, C179 for about an hour. Raise the temperature for the last ten minutes to make a nice brown top. Turn out and let cool if you can resist tearing at it while still warm. Cut in hunks.
I think the above must be a poor relation to the pizza rustica which has nothing to do with pizzas. It is a port and cheese pie cooked in a sweet pastry, very unusual and surprisingly good. I don't think you can better Marcella Hazan's receipt, she cuts out half the sugar and uses no cinnamon. Pizza rustica
For the pastry: 8 oz plain flour 2 egg yolks pinch of salt 4 oz unsalted butter cut into small pieces 3 tablespoons iced water 1 oz granulated sugar
Mix all the ingredients together and knead briefly by hand or in a food proces- sor. Wrap dough in cling film and refriger- ate for at least an hour.
For the filling: 2 egg yolks 12 oz whole milk ricotta cheese 8 oz roughly chopped mortadella, salami, ham, prosciutto (mixed) 4 oz mozzarella diced 2 tablespoons fresh grated parmesan salt and black pepper
Beat the eggs and ricotta in a bowl until creamy. Add the chopped meats, moz- zarella, parmesan. Season liberally with salt and freshly ground pepper. Butter a two-pint souffle dish or similar object. Cut off a third of the dough and roll it into a round on some foil large enough to line the bottom of the dish and come a little way up the sides. Turn the dough into the dish, peel away the foil. Take another third of the dough, roll into strips the height of the bowl (on foil again) and line the sides of the bowl, pressing and overlapping when necessary. Pour the mixture from the other bowl into the pastry case, press lightly to force out any air bubbles. Roll out the remaining dough into a circle to make a generous lid for the pie (on foil again). Place on top of pie, peel away foil, press edges tightly against lining to form a tight seal and trim off neatly. Smooth all rough connections with a wet finger. Bake in the upper level of a preheated oven Gas 5, F 375, C 190, for 45 minutes. Turn up the heat for an extra five minutes to brown.
Jennifer Paterson
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