Pizza Chiena

Serves
10–12

FARIDEH SADEGHIN

Published on April 3, 2015

Pizza chiena is a Neapolitan Easter Day treat filled with meat, cheese, and eggs. The recipe for this version comes to us from Mary Mazzacco of Tinton Falls, New Jersey. Featured in: A Special Kind of Pizza Pie, For Easter

Ingredients

6 cups flour, plus more for dusting
1 ¹⁄₄ cups parmesan cheese
2 tbsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
¹⁄₄ tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 lb. lard
14 eggs, beaten
³⁄₄ cup ice water
1 ¹⁄₂ lb. Genoa salami, thinly sliced
2 (14 oz.) basket cheese, thinly sliced
1 ¹⁄₂ lb. prosciutto, thinly sliced
1 ¹⁄₂ lb. mozzarella, thinly sliced
12 hard boiled eggs, thinly sliced

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Instructions

Step 1

Whisk flour, 1⁄4 cup parmesan, 2 tbsp. pepper, and 1⁄4 tsp. salt in a bowl. Using a dough blender, two forks, or your fingers, cut lard into flour mixture, forming pea-size crumbles. Add 1 egg, and knead until smooth. Add water; work dough until smooth. (Alternatively, pulse ingredients in a food processor.) Divide into 2 uneven balls: two-thirds for the bottom crust and one-third for the top. Pat each into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap; chill 1 hour before using.

Step 2

Heat oven to 425°. Beat 1 egg with 1 tbsp. water and set egg wash aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll larger dough disk into a 22" circle, about 1⁄8" thick; fit into an extra-deep (about 4") 9" spring-form pan, allowing about 1" to hang over the edge. Place a layer of salami completely covering the bottom of the pan, then a layer of basket cheese, a layer of prosciutto, a layer of mozzarella, and a layer of hard-boiled eggs, until you reach the top of the pan. Beat remaining eggs with remaining parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper and pour on top of ingredients. Roll remaining dough into a 13" circle and place on top of pie. Crimp edges, cut an X in the center and several more vents in top, and brush with egg wash. Bake 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to 325° and bake 2 1⁄2 hours more, or until the pastry is cooked and golden. Let cool before serving.

Whisk flour, 1⁄4 cup parmesan, 2 tbsp. pepper, and 1⁄4 tsp. salt in a bowl. Using a dough blender, two forks, or your fingers, cut lard into flour mixture, forming pea-size crumbles. Add 1 egg, and knead until smooth. Add water; work dough until smooth. (Alternatively, pulse ingredients in a food processor.) Divide into 2 uneven balls: two-thirds for the bottom crust and one-third for the top. Pat each into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap; chill 1 hour before using.
Heat oven to 425°. Beat 1 egg with 1 tbsp. water and set egg wash aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll larger dough disk into a 22" circle, about 1⁄8" thick; fit into an extra-deep (about 4") 9" spring-form pan, allowing about 1" to hang over the edge. Place a layer of salami completely covering the bottom of the pan, then a layer of basket cheese, a layer of prosciutto, a layer of mozzarella, and a layer of hard-boiled eggs, until you reach the top of the pan. Beat remaining eggs with remaining parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper and pour on top of ingredients. Roll remaining dough into a 13" circle and place on top of pie. Crimp edges, cut an X in the center and several more vents in top, and brush with egg wash. Bake 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to 325° and bake 2 1⁄2 hours more, or until the pastry is cooked and golden. Let cool before serving.