Pizza Chiene (Italian Easter Pie)

The muffin version is a perfect example of what the pie looks like.

This has been an Easter standard in the family forever. Full disclosure I’m not a huge ricotta fan, so this isn’t my favorite, but everyone else LOVES it!

One year, when planning the Thanksgiving food fest with my mother, I asked why we didn’t make Pizza Chiene (we pronounce it pizza gain) for Thanksgiving. Since there was no good reason to limit it to just Easter, it became part of the turkey day food fest.

Mom would buy cold cut ends to dice up for the filling. Cutting all that meat can be a real pain and one year we discovered that buying the meat sliced and then cutting into strips with scissors worked fine, but the pie wasn’t as tall. I have taken the pepperoni and food processed until it almost ground. That works well to have it be throughout the filling.

Pizza Chiene in an oblong pan for selling by the pound.

My brother had a deli for a while and was making it to sell. He made the Pizza Chiene in oblong baking pans which made it easy to sell in squares by weight. That’s actually how they sell pizza in Italy.

Muffin Pan Pizza Chiene for gift-giving.

I've experimented making muffins which are really mini pies. They're a bit more work because you divide up the dough to make top and bottom crusts in large muffin pans, but they do look really nice and professional if using them for gifts.

Traumatized by Pizza Chiene?

The same cookbook project that gave me the original Irish soda bread recipe also caused me some trauma when I was asked to contribute a recipe. Since all of my friends had fallen in love with Pizza Chiene, I decided to share the recipe thinking it a nice way to honor my mother.

At Christmas, I gave everyone in the family a copy of the cookbook and I didn't get the response I was hoping for....

My mother outright chastised me for giving away he secret family recipe. Imagine the Italian Catholic guilt that filled me that day and lingered below the surface for years.

THEN, a few years later in a random conversation (long after the charity cookbook reprimand) we were all together making the pies for one of the holidays and my then brand new sister-in-law, Kim, asked about the Pizza Chienne recipe and if it came from my great grandmother. Mom just shrugged and told Kim that she bound it in a magazine when she was first married to my dad. As you might imagine, I was just a bit miffed.....

Anyway, (fake) family secret recipe be damned, here it is!

THE RECIPE:

CRUST

2-1/2 c flour

1t. Baking powder

1 egg

1/2 c vegetable oil

1 t Salt

1/2 c milk

1 egg yolk for brushing the crust

FILLING

1 lb. Genoa salami

1 lb. ham

1 stick pepperoni

1 lb. mozzarella

1-1/2 lb. ricotta

5 eggs beaten

Preheat the over to 350 degrees

For the Crust

Combine and knead all ingredients for 10 minutes until smooth and completely mixed. Place in covered bowl and let rest for 10 - 15 minutes.

For the filling:

Cut all meat and mozzarella into 1/4 inch chunks.

In a large bowl combine beaten eggs and ricotta until completely blended.

Add the rest of the filling ingredients and stir until well mixed in.

Rolling the crust:

Divide dough in to quarters. Roll out 2 to make bottom crusts and for 2 deep pie pans.

Divide the filling into the two crusts and roll out the other two portions of dough to create the top crusts.

Crimp the top crust around the rim of the pie pan and bake at 350º for 45 minutes, then brush tops with beaten egg yolk and bake for an additional 15 minutes until top crust is bolder brown.