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 at 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.

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.

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.

 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 best served cold the next day right out of the refrigerator. 

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.

Since I meant comments asking me what is basket cheese? This Wikipedia link will explain Basket Cheese.

As I said before, Basket Chhese is seasonal around the Easter Holiday If you can't find it in your local grocery store. Click this link for a recipe to make it yourself.

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

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