Bistrot Paul Bert Pepper Steak & Easter Pizza Rustica

Nana and I decided to change it up a bit this week.  I chose to test the Pepper Steak recipe and she prepared a post on the incredible rustic pie that was one of the many delicious dishes she treated us to this Easter.
 


Per Tricia:

Truth be told, we don't enjoy filet mignon all

that often.  And when we do, it is typically

cooked by someone else ~ as in a restaurant chef :)

Yes, price is a factor as to why it is not on my

 grocery list, but it also involves the fact that I do not

do a fabulous job cooking steaks. 

Messing up or even just delivering "mediocre" results

 doesn't seem to do the ingredients justice....so I have

stayed away from steaks.  

My husband and sons, however, enjoy them

immensely and usually consider any steak that

makes it off the grill to be a victory. 

An appreciative bunch indeed.

And that appreciation was rewarded with this recipe. 

 So stunningly simple. 

 Plus, a nice chance to break out the single distillery

cognac that was waiting to be tested.

The result was nothing short of spectacular.

  So fabulous and eaten with such pleasure and gusto....

that I am quite certain I will be treating my fellas

 to this one again in the near future.

   They loved the sauce, they loved the pepper, they loved

that when I followed Dorie's cooking times.....

the meat turned out perfectly.

A new recipe and some new found confidence. 

 Another victorious French Friday !

Per Nana:

I am taking a break from cooking this week,

 so I do not plan to make this week's recipe of Pepper Steak. 

 I am, however, going to share our family tradition

 and recipe for "Easter Pizza Rustica".

This is one of those recipes handed down

 from generation to generation. 

Grandma Bessie would make this every Easter

 and we would wait patiently for Saturday 

noontime, when we were allowed to "dig in". 

 According to religious tradition, we were not

 supposed to eat meat before noon.

Hubby and I finally took over the task about

20 years ago, but we could never manage to have

 the dough turn out like Grandma's. 

I gave up trying for a few years and last year

I decided to try purchasing dough from the

 local pizza parlor and voila - it worked beautifully.

The recipe is very simple: 

• 1 lb procuitto   Sliced about 1/4" thick  (Domestic will do fine)  Chop roughly in cuisinart.
• 1 lb dry Italian sausage (chopped)
• 3 lbs whole milk riccotta cheese
• 1-1/2 lbs scamuchatto cheese,  grated on box grater .   This cheese is also known as" basket"  cheese or "fresh"  cheese.  
• 12 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk (reserve for crust)

 Mix all ingredients together.

Roll out 1 piece of pizza dough and place it in

 a large springform pan.   I use a 13" x 9" pan. 

Have some french clothespins or kitchen clips handy

to hold the dough to the sides of the pan until you can fill it.

  Trust me, this dough springs back so fast you would not believe it.

   

 

Fill the pan with the above mixture and sprinkle with

 grated parmesan cheese before putting the top crust on. 

 When using the second piece of dough, you may want to trim

 it to fit so that the crust top is not too thick.  

Brush the top with the reserved beaten egg yolk for a nice glaze. 

Cut 5 or 6 three inch slits in the crust.

  Place in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for about an hour.

  If the crust is browning too quickly, cover loosely with tin foil.