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Pizzagaina, also known as pizza rustica or Italian Easter pie, is a cherished tradition that brings together a medley of rich flavors in a single, hearty dish. This savory pie features a flaky crust enveloping a delightful filling of creamy ricotta, mozzarella, and an assortment of cured meats like salami, ham, and pepperoni. Traditionally prepared to celebrate the end of Lent, pizzagaina is a testament to indulgence and festivity. Each bite offers a harmonious blend of textures and tastes, making it a centerpiece for Easter gatherings and a beloved staple in Italian households.
This egg, cheese and meat pie is a feast! Tasty ingredients like eggs, ham, sausage, mozzarella, and provolone make this one of the most satisfying Easter dishes ever.
Also, try this smoked honey glazed ham, these Easter bundt cakes, or these hatching chick cookies for your Easter dinner spread.
Why You’ll Love It
Authentic: This traditional Italian Easter meat pie is well-known and well-loved all over Italy as well as in Italian homes everywhere. If you can get the right ingredients, you can rustle up this classic Italian dish easily.
Tasty: If you love Italian meats, cheeses and the richness and appeal of pie and pizza, there’s no way your tastebuds aren’t going to be thrilled with this classic pizzagaina.
Versatile: Feel free to make any tweaks or changes you want, such as using different meats. It’s your savory pie, so you can make it your way!
Pizza Gain Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Deli meats: I like to use Italian sausage, capicola, and salami. Capicola, which is also known as capocollo or coppa, is a wafer-thin pork shoulder cold cut. You can find it at all good deli counters. This is the perfect recipe for using leftover ham as well.
Ricotta salata: This Easter meat pie traditionally uses Italian basket cheese. That cheese is often hard to find, so ricotta salata (salted ricotta) is used in this recipe. Mozzarella and provolone cheeses also add a nice softness and flavor to the pizza rustica.
Pizza dough: Premade pizza dough is the best option here, as it saves a lot of time.
Eggs: These are hard-boiled and chopped.
Smoked paprika: Adds an earthy, smoky flavor.
Puff pastry: This is cut into strips and “woven” to create a distinctive pattern on top of the pie.
How to Make this Classic Easter Dish
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
Prepare the sausage and crust: Brown and drain the sausage first of all and then mix it with the parmesan, eggs and other meats. Roll out the pizza dough and put it in a greased pan.
Add more ingredients: Next you can add the mozzarella and provolone cheeses to the pizzagaina. Combine the eggs with the spices and seasonings and beat until frothy. Whisk in the ricotta.
Combine those two mixtures: Now mix the two bowls together and add half to the prepared pan. Add the rest of the mozzarella and provolone then the rest of the meat mixture.
Top the pie: Cut the pastry into strips and use these to top the meat mixture. I like to weave them together because it looks pretty! Make an egg wash with the egg, water and garlic then brush this over the Italian meat pie.
Bake it: To cook, you can bake it in the oven covered with foil for 1 hour (then remove foil and cook for another 15 minutes until golden brown) or you can smoke it for about 5 hours.
Garnish and enjoy: Serve this pizzagaina warm, garnished with herbs if you like. This egg, cheese and meat pie smells incredible while it cooks and it’s the perfect Easter brunch or dinner recipe.
Substitutions and Variations
Deli meats: Pretty much any cold cut would work here, such as pastrami, prosciutto, bacon, or soppressata. Bear in mind a lot of these meats range from a bit salty to very salty. This is why you might need to adjust the amount of salt you add to the recipe.
Cheeses: The same applies to the cheeses. I typically use the parmesan romano, ricotta, mozzarella, and provolone listed in the recipe. However you can use whatever kinds of cheese you prefer. Stick to Italian cheeses for the most authentic result though!
Smoked paprika: You can substitute regular sweet paprika or, for something spicier, some cayenne pepper.
Serving Suggestions
Appetizers: Begin your Easter feast with Cajun shrimp deviled eggs and perhaps a lemon lavender vodka cocktail.
Side dishes: Enjoy a simple green salad or charred zucchini salad.
Desserts: Finish with cute bunny bait and Easter peep cupcakes.
How to Store Pizza Gaina
Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eat within 3 days.
Freeze: You can freeze it in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Thaw: Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.
Reheat: You can warm it back up in the oven, or have it chilled.
Top Tips
Mix and match: Since the recipe has evolved over time to reflect locally available ingredients, you can see why it’s perfectly fine to make the recipe your own and experiment with different kinds of cheese and meat.
Wood chips: If you’re smoking the pie, I find that hickory wood chips add a lovely taste.
Let it rest before serving: If you slice it immediately, the pie won’t hold together as well. It will also be incredibly hot.
Italian Savoury Easter Pie FAQs
It’s completely your choice but in my opinion you can’t beat this classic Easter dish still warm from the oven! In Italy it’s typically served as an appetizer at room temperature.
This classic Easter dish is known by different names, including pizza ripiena, pizza chiena, pizza gana, pizza gain, and pizzagaina rustica. One reason for all the different names is regional dialects around the country, but each one means ‘stuffed pizza’. Since the Italian word ‘pizza’ translates to mean ‘pie’ in English, you can see how this mouthwatering dish got its name!
These are several differences between these two cheeses. Ricotta salata (also known as salted ricotta) is much saltier than ricotta cheese. As well, ricotta has a creamy and spreadable texture but ricotta salata is dry and crumbly. Lastly, ricotta salata is usually made with sheep’s milk ricotta, but fresh ricotta is typically made with cow’s milk, sheep’s milk, or even goat’s milk.
It was first made in Naples in the 1600s as a great way to celebrate the end of Lent. Whether or not you fast from dairy and eggs for those 40 days or not, pizza rustica is the ideal dish to present those delicious ingredients. Southern Italians, including those from Naples, brought this recipe to America when they immigrated. The range of cold meats and cheeses was different in America so the Italian immigrants improvised, using locally available cold cuts and cheeses.
Italian Pizzagaina Rustica Recipe
Pizzagaina Rustica
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Pound pizza dough, readymade
- 2 Sheets puff pastry
- 11 eggs
- 3 eggs, hard boiled, chopped
- 1 Pound ham, baked or leftover, chopped
- 1/2 Pound sausage, Italian, ground
- 4 Cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 Pound capicola, spicy, chopped
- 1/4 Pound salami, chopped
- 1/4 Cup parmesan cheese, grated romano
- 1 Teaspoon black pepper, coarse
- 1 Teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 Pinch salt
- 1 Pound ricotta salata, or traditional Italian basket cheese
- 8 Ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced
- 8 Ounces provolone cheese, sliced
- 1/2 Teaspoon garlic paste
- fresh basil, chopped, optional garnish
Instructions
- If cooking in an oven, preheat to 350 degrees F. If cooking in a smoker, preheat the smoker to 300 degrees F for 15 minutes with the lid closed.
- Brown and drain the Italian sausage. Add sausage to a large mixing bowl.
- Combine with grated parmesan romano cheese, chopped hard-boiled eggs, ham, capicola, and salami.
- Lightly flour a wooden cutting board. Place the pizza dough onto the flour and cover with parchment paper. Roll out to 1/4-inch thick.
- Butter the sides and bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Add the dough to the pan and press to form up the sides. Allow an inch of the dough to overhang.
- Use a fork to pierce the bottom of the dough 3 to 4 times. Lay ½ of the mozzarella and provolone to cover the bottom.
- Add 10 eggs to a large mixing bowl with garlic, pepper, smoked paprika, and a pinch of salt. Whisk until frothy.
- Add the ricotta cheese and whisk until smooth.
- Combine the 2 bowls together and stir with a wooden spoon. Pour ½ into the spring form pan and cover with remaining sliced mozzarella and provolone. Top with remaining egg and meat mixture
- Unroll the puff pastry sheets and cut each sheet into 6 equal strips. Lay 6 strips on a wooden cutting board side by side. Place one strip horizontally across the top of the 6. Weave the strips together.
- Place on top of the pizzagaina and trim away any overhang.
- Roll up the overhanging pizza dough around the top of the pan to form a rim and cover the edges of the pastry.
- Whisk the remaining egg, 1 tablespoon of water, and garlic paste to form egg wash. Brush on top of the pie.
- If cooking in an oven, cover with foil and cook for 1 hour. Then remove foil and cook for another 15 minutes until golden brown. Check center to make sure cooked through. If needed, cook longer but check often. If cooking in a smoker, place into the smoker and smoke for 5 hours. Check center to make sure cooked through. If needed, cook longer but check often.
- Let it stand 15 to 20 minutes. Release the pan sides and transfer the pizza to a platter to cut into wedges.
Notes
Wood chips: If you’re smoking the pie, hickory wood chips add a lovely taste.
Let it rest before serving: If you slice it immediately, the pie won’t hold together as well. It will also be incredibly hot.
Nutrition
Whether you enjoy it as an Easter brunch or dinner recipe, there’s no doubt you will love this dish that uses leftover ham. Pizzagaina rustica sandwiches various meats and cheeses with eggs, garlic, and seasonings, in between two layers of pastry for the ultimate Easter treat. This pie recipe will become a holiday tradition.
Other Recipes to Try
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
Absolutely packed with flavor! Perfect for Easter—everyone asked for seconds!
So easy to make and so flavorful. So fantastic!
First time trying this recipe and it won’t be the last. The whole family enjoyed it.
So good. I’ll be making this again and again.
Too good to only enjoy once a year over Easter. I made it yesterday and there’s none left today. Very tasty.
My Grandma from Naples made something called Patela at Easter.
Made with fresh cheese, and similar cheeses, had pepperoni and also raisins in it. Baked in a crust also. Have you heard of this? Haven’t tried your recipe yet, looks great!
I have not heard, but I will see what I can find and try to make it!
My partner and I made this today. It was delicious! Thank you.
Made this for Easter Friday dinner and it was just perfect! We all loved it. Next time I will try the smoker option
oh my, this is like a quiche but in a crust. YUM! 🙂