Easter Sausage Pie

Easter Sausage Pie


Italian Easter Sausage Pie

This week I seem to be on a roll with our traditional Easter holiday recipes. Ever since I was a little guy, and that was a long time ago, this Easter sausage pie has been a family favorite. 

We make it every year on Good Friday without fail. This recipe calls for basket cheese, and here in Western New York, we can only find it certain times of the year, usually around Holidays.

Here is what we use Easter Sausage Pie:

3 lb. Italian sausage links (we used sweet, not hot)
2-1/2 lb. basket cheese
2 slices ham (1/4-inch-thick) ham from your deli counter is fine
16 large eggs
½ cup grated Romano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

The Crust:

2-1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, well chilled
2 tablespoons of butter or margarine, again well chilled
5 to 6 tablespoons of cold water

If you need instructions to make the crust you can find them here. Or you can cheat and just buy the pie crust already made.

Okay here is how we make this Italian Sausage Pie:

First, make your sausage, we bake ours at 350 degrees for about one hour, you can also broil or fry the sausage however you prefer to make it.

 While the sausage is baking dice up the basket cheese and ham and place it in a large mixing bowl. 
After the sausage is cooked cut it into small pieces and add it to the bowl.
Italian Easter meat pie recipe

Now in another bowl beat the eggs and the Romano cheese. Pour the eggs into the large bowl and mix this well with a spoon.

Lightly grease a 15-inch x 10-inch x 2-inch glass baking dish. Roll out the dough to about 1/8-inch thick. Cut ½-inch strips of dough and place them along the length and width of the bottom of the baking dish, in a crisscross pattern.
dough crisscrossed on bottom of baking dish
Here are the strips of dough on the bottom of the baking dish
Pour the mixture into the baking dish and spread it level to the top. Now crisscross strips of dough across the top as you did on the bottom.
Easy Italian Easter Pie

 Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake this for one hour until the top is golden brown. Then place it on a baking rack to cool before cutting. Once cooled you can cut and serve. This is really best served cold the next day right out of the refrigerator. 
Italian Easter sausage pie

There are many variations of this recipe, we have been using this one since 1970 from the St. Vitus Cookbook of New Castle Pa. This is another really easy one to make and is so rich and tasty.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and as always thanks for stopping by.

26 comments:

  1. I've never heard of this before but it looks terrific, Sam. Looks like your house is the place to be for Easter.

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    1. Oh it is terrific! Stop over anytime but you better hurry because this isn't going to last very long! Thanks David, and Happy Easter to you and your family :)

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  2. Yum! I have never heard of basket cheese! What is it like?

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    1. Basket cheese is sort of cross between ricotta mozzarella and is made in a basket, and also very expensive. Here is a link that may explain it better:Thanks Carlee http://www.cheesemaking.com/BasketChz.html

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  3. Well, besides getting a new recipe to try, I've learned what 'basket cheese' is. Your recipes are good AND educational. :) Happy Easter, Sam.

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    1. Hi Pat, Thanks for those kind words. We only make this once a year and enjoy it until it's gone. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you had wonderful Easter.

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  4. Yummy! This is the first time I heard about basket cheese. Thanks for the info. This food looks and I am sure tastes good.

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    1. Hi Thelma, It is very good, we only make it at Easter time. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

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  5. This looks delicious! Like Thelma, I'd never encountered basket cheese in a recipe before.

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    1. Hi Kyla, It is really good, as we only make this once a year. The basket cheese is seasonal and very expensive. Thanks so much for stopping by.

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  6. Oh, wow! This recipe sounds and looks delicious! I found myself wondering, why didn't I think of that! Is certainly seems simple enough to make. I know my family would love it anytime.

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    1. Yes, it is pretty simple to make but expensive because of the basket cheese. This is really great any time but we only make once a year. Thanks Cynthia for stopping by.

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  7. Would there be anything to substitute for basket cheese... or would that ruin it?

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    1. Hi Laurie, I've never used any other cheese to make this. Basket cheese is hard to find and is very expensive. You could try Swiss cheese and cut the recipe down to see how it turns out. Let me now if you do. Thanks!!

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    2. I made some today and used Swiss cheese. A bit different taste but still delicious

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    1. Thanks Lorelei, It really is amazing. We only make this once a year.Thanks again :)

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  9. looks really good

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  10. The sausage pie recipe sounds great but I'll have to see if I can find basket cheesem which I've not heard of before now.

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    1. Hi Ruth, Basket cheese is pretty seasonable at least in our area. We can only find it around Easter time. thanks so much for stopping by :)

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  11. On the search for basket cheese this week! What is a substitute if I can't find it ??? !

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  12. Basket cheese is not one with which I'm familiar so I had to check out your links. I'll be checking to see if any of the stores here carry it, too. This is a future breakfast/brunch recipe for me to try.

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  13. So excited to find this recipe! Good friend of the family used to make it. She was a parishioner at St Vitus also!! Small world!

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    1. I'm so glad you now have it Paula, we will be making this on Good Friday as we do every year. Thanks for stopping by.

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  14. Hi Sam - I googled ‘sausage pie’ and your recipe thankfully popped up. I was then surprised to see the recipe is from the St. Vitus Cookbook in New Castle…I’ll be heading to church there tomorrow for Palm Sunday! And FYI, I think Valentino’s Cheese in New Castle carries basket cheese!

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