Andolini’s Pizza Rustica

Mike Bausch is back this afternoon with a recipe for Andolini’s Pizza Rustica

Andolini’s Pizza Rustica

1. To make it at home you’ll need:
2. 1 20 oz. dough (or the largest dough you can make or get)
3. 2 Tblsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
4. 9 oz. ricotta cheese 
5. 14 fresh spinach leaves
6. 4 to 5 slices of prosciutto, cut into thirds to make 12 to 15 pieces
7. 8 oz. cased Italian sausage, cut into rounds and cooked through 
8. 7 oz. of mozzarella — shredded / diced mozzarella 
9. 2 (additional) Tblsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
10. 1 tablespoon of pecorino Romano cheese

Preheat your oven and a pizza stone, if you have one, to 500 degrees. In the meantime, push out your dough to form a large (20”) pizza crust. Place on a lightly oiled pan for easy transfer to the stone when it’s time to bake — the pan does not have to be the size of your pushed out crust, as you will be folding in large crust sections. Lightly spread 2 oz. EVOO over the entire crust, leaving the outer 2” clear. Use your fingers or the back of a spoon to gently spread the olive oil over the dough. Drop .5 oz dollops of ricotta cheese around the pizza — should have 18 from the 9oz. you started with. Continue to leave the outer 2 to 3” of crust clear. Sprinkle the spinach over the ricotta, and follow with the sliced prosciutto and the sliced sausage. Sprinkle with diced mozzarella evenly over the topping area, again, leaving the crust clear. Take the crust edges and fold them inward, so you cover roughly one third to one half of the total pizza area with a top crust. Your pie will resemble a pentagon shape once you do this. Take hold of each of the vertices of your pentagon, and gently lift and pull them outward a bit. This stretching helps to ensure even baking and a good crust. If you need to stretch between the vertices a bit to keep the pie in it’s shape, do that. Glaze crust with remaining EVOO, then place on hot stone and bake until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly. Remove pizza from oven and top with a sprinkling of pecorino Romano cheese.