Wednesday, March 28, 2012

TWD -- Pizza Rustica

Pizza Rustica,  the latest Tuesdays with Dorie experiement, was unlike any pizza I have ever made. If nothing else, I learned about this dish and discovered possibilities to vary the recipe provided in "Baking with Julia."

The dough was different than any pastry dough I have ever made. However, it went together well and I thought the food processor directions were right on. The dough became very smooth (like a babie's bottom) once it was kneaded a little after the processing was complete.

After chilling the dough, I set it out of the refrigerator about an hour before rolling. This made rolling very easy, and I used a pastry cloth and rolling pin cover as I do for pie dough.

 I learned a tip about this at the bakery where I volunteer. Instead of washing the cloth (which will make it limp after many washings), the bakery's cloths are not washed, but scraped free of flour and stored, folded in a plastic bag, in the refrigerator. This would inhibit cupboard moths from attacking.

I decided that the filling appeared rather bland, and because we had some fresh asparagus, I chopped about a cup's worth, blanched it for about two minutes, and added it to the mix. The addition proved worthwhile and led me to believe that a number of vegetable add-ins would be welcome.

After the pie was baked, I wondered if one had to wait until it was totally cool before eating it. I decided to cut it while not hot, but warm, and that worked wonderfully. Was it good? I thought the mixture of flavors, including the sugar in the dough, were wonderful. My husband, however, thought the dish would have been improved by eliminating the sugar. He also much prefers traditioanl pizza, although I contend that comparing it to what we normally think of pizza is like comparing apples to oranges. This would be a great brunch dish.

3 comments:

  1. I definitely saw this one as more of a "ricotta pie" than a pizza - I think that helped keep me from having the expectation of it being more like a pizza. (I also thought this was good warm)

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  2. You're right, it would make a great brunch dish.

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  3. YES----I was craving some crunchy asparagus or someother veggie in my Pizza Rustica! Next time, for sure. :)

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