Italian Sausage Cheese Easter Pie

This is a traditional Easter main dish pie that's enjoyed all over Italy. Try this dish at your next brunch.

Ingredients:

• Pastry:
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• Filling:
• 1 1/2 pounds mild Italian sausage
• 2 16 ounce containers ricotta cheese
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 5 hard cooked eggs, sliced
• 1 egg, beaten

Directions:

Make dough first. In a large bowl, stir together flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. Combine oil, milk and 3 eggs, then pour into the dry ingredients and stir until dough holds together well. Using a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment to mix until smooth. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Divide dough in half. Roll out one half of dough to fit a 14 X 18 inch baking sheet with sides that come up at least 1/2 inch. If the dough is too stiff to roll out to that size, let it rest for a few minutes and come back to it. Fit dough into baking sheet and set aside. Place sausage into a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring to crumble, until no longer pink. Drain off grease and set aside to cool. In a large bowl, mix together ricotta cheese, 5 eggs, salt, pepper and hard cooked eggs. When sausage is cool, stir it into the cheese and eggs. Spread this mixture evenly over the crust in pan. Roll out remaining dough and place on top. Roll edges and pinch together to seal. Brush top crust with beaten egg. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 1 hour. Cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into servings. This can be served warm or cold.

Number of Servings: 12