Ingredients
Units
Scale
Filling
- 1 package dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes and drained
- 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
- 1 pound fresh spinach
- 1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced
- 4 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 pounds ricotta cheese, drained
- 1 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
- 8 eggs
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
- 4 Tbsp. flour
Layers of Italian Meats and Cheeses
- 1/2 cup asiago cheese, shredded or sliced
- 1 large ball of fresh Mozzarella cheese, sliced
- 1/4 lb. provolone cheese, shredded or sliced
- 1/2 cup pancetta, cubed or sliced thin
- 1/4 cup mortadella, cubed or sliced thin
- 4 oz. hot cappicola, cibed or sliced thin
- 1/4 lb. prosciutto, cubed or sliced thin
- 4 oz. soprassetta, cubed or sliced thin
- 4 oz. Genoa salami, cubed or sliced thin
- 4 oz. pepperoni, cubed or sliced thin
Pie Dough
- Use your favorite high-quality pie dough recipe
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place dried porcini mushrooms in bowl of hot water to plump up for about 30 minutes, drain.
- In buttered saucepan, saute’ the mushrooms for 5 minutes.
- In separate large frying/sauce pan, in olive oil, cook the spinach for 2 minutes.
- In another sauce pan, in olive oil, cook artichokes for 5 minutes.
- In another small sauce pan, in olive oil, sauté garlic.
- Add all of these together, except the spinach, set it aside for the assembly of torta.
- Add in the parsley.
- Set aside.
- In a large bowl, blend ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, whipping cream, and flour.
- Add the mushroom, artichoke, garlic, parsley mixture to the cheese-egg mixture.
- Assembly of Torta
- Spray/grease a 10″ springform pan
- Roll out pie dough so that it is wide enough to cover both the bottom and sides of the baking pan.
- Pour in about 2 inches of the cheese-egg-artichoke filling mixture.
- Bake for about 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and alternate layers of remaining cheeses and Italian meats, except the mozzarella.
- Layer the cooked spinach on top.
- Layer the slices of mozzarella on top of spinach.
- Pour remaining cheese-egg-mushroom-artichoke mixture over the meat and cheese layers.
- Place a top layer of pie dough on top and baste with an egg wash.
- Bake for 70 – 80 minutes, using aluminum foil to prevent dough from burning.
Notes
- Adapted with several major adjustments to a recipe found on “The Italian Dish”.