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Pizza Rustica (Savory Italian Easter Pie)

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My mother-in-law Francesca and her sister Chiara immigrated to America from the Basilicata region in Italy. They used to make a traditional pizza rustica for Easter every year. Sadly we lost Francesca earlier this year and Chiara in the spring of last year. I didn’t have the recipe, but thru trial and error and inspiration from the book: Cooking with Nonna: A year of Italian holidays and blogs (listed below) I came up with this version which is very close to the original recipe. This is in honor of you Nonna and Zia – we miss you! Make the crust: 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 tsp kosher salt 1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cubed 2 eggs plus 1 egg for egg wash 1/4 whole milk 1 tbsp water In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hook, combine flour, salt and butter. Start on low speed and the increase to high speed and mix until flour is absorbed and no more large pieces of butter are visible. Add the …

Maple-Oatmeal Scones

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These scones are simply the best and they can be made & cut out ahead of time – then stored in the fridge, wrapped in plastic (up to 2 days) before baking. The recipe is from the first “Barefoot Contessa” book Ina Garten published in 1999. 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup whole-wheat flour 1 cup quick-cooking oats, plus additional for sprinkling 2 tbsp baking powder 2 tbsp sugar 2 tsp kosher salt 1 lb cold, unsalted butter, diced 1/2 cup cold buttermilk 4 extra-large eggs, slightly beaten 1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water, for egg wash for glaze 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar 1/2 cup maple syrup 1 tsp pure vanilla extract Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the flours, oats, baking powder, sugar and salt. Blend the cold butter in at the lowest speed and mix until the butter is in pea-size pieces. Combine the buttermilk, maple syrup and eggs and add quickly to the flour-and-butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The …