Easter Italian Style

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter holiday! Part of the tradition in my family is making Easter Pizzas. Both my grandparents came from Naples making me 100% neopolitan, of which I am very proud. We have always made what we call Easter Pizza's - the filling can be different depending on what part of Italy you come from and they are so excellent!!  Here is some great information from a NY Times article I found:

Naples is an ancient city, with a history that goes back at least to the classical Greeks. Relics of the old spring-planting festivals show up in Easter cooking, like the grains of wheat, swollen with milk and sugar, that decorate pastiera, a magnificent Easter pie, or the eggs, sometimes dyed red to symbolize life, that are baked into casatiello, a savory bread that is essential to a Neapolitan Easter.

Every Italian region has its own special breads and sweets for Easter. In Naples, there is pastiera, the sweet and creamy custard pie with whole-grain wheat berries flavored with orange-flower water and chunks of candied orange peel baked in a sugary pastry crust. (In this country, Italian bakeries make pastiera at Easter, and coffeehouses in Italian neighborhoods often sell the delectable sweet by the slice.) From the same ancient custom comes the savory, peppery bread called casatiello, a high, round egg dough embedded with chunks of cheese and ham or salami.

Not all of these Neapolitan Easter foods are suitable for diners in a hurry. Casatiello and pastiera are not difficult, but they do require patience and attention. Easter, even in Naples, is a happy excuse for the revival of beloved old traditions.

Mom and I started the Easter Pizza today

filling is wonderful of genoa salami, ham and munster cheese along with some egg and ....

Parmesan cheese which when grated with a microplane becomes like dust....if you do not have one of those, get one asap 

the pizza can be made round 

or in a cookie sheet, this is probably best as it is very rich 

the finished product...the smell in your kitchen is amazing!!

this one is made with a filling of ricotta and cherries along with parmesan cheese.....

this is what it looks like cut in half...so yummy !!

Here is the full article from the NY Times if you wish to read it:

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/25/magazine/easter-in-naples-mangia-bene.html?pagewanted=1

 

Buona Pasqua  (Happy Easter)