The Frying Pan
December 2005 (see the Frying Pan archive)

Even though our family is not Italian, a lot of our holiday eating traditions are.

We will be celebrating New Year's Eve on Saturday night and whether you are planning a party or not, I'd like to suggest one of those dishes we enjoyed many years ago. It is a rich Italian meat pie.

We enjoyed this one-dish meal usually on Christmas Eve, but there is no reason it can't be served any other time. The beauty of this is all the work can be done ahead and you can enjoy your guests and not be stuck in the kitchen.

Our friends served this traditional meal both hot and cold. It is a meal in itself, stuffed full of ham, salami, and prosciutto, as well as three kinds of cheese, ricotta, Parmesan, and mozzarella. Needless to say, this pie really satisfies.

In those days you better not eat too big a piece of the holiday meat pie because our friends always served baccala (the Italian dried cod fish dish done in tomato sauce with onions and green peppers), meatballs, hot sausage and bowls of spaghetti with lots of rich homemade red sauce, made with chicken, beef and pork.

I adapted this recipe from allrecipes.com and I know you will enjoy it.

HOLIDAY MEAT PIE

Ingredients: 4 9-inch unbaked pie crusts; 2 pounds ricotta cheese; 6 eggs; 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated; 1 pound baked ham, chopped; 1/2 pound Genoa salami, chopped; 1/4 pound prosciutto, chopped; 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Place ricotta in a large mixing bowl and add eggs one at a time while mixing on low speed. Stir in mozzarella, ham, salami, and prosciutto until all ingredients are well combined. Line two 9 inch pans with
pastry. Spoon half of mixture into each pan. Sprinkle half of the Parmesan cheese over each pie, then cover with top pastry. Crimp edges and cut steam vents in tops.

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, until crust is golden brown. Cool on racks. Makes two 9-inch pies, makes 12 servings.

Some folks add coarse ground pepper and dried red pepper flakes to this holiday pie. Our friends made this dish as a one crust offering.

A nice fresh green salad, a crust of good bread, a glass of red dry wine and you have a delicious meal. Some of those cookies and candies we made weeks ago, or even the cannolis would be good to put out for dessert.

If you want to add some color to your holiday table, I suggest this chutney, which can be made ahead of time.

DRIED CHERRY AND APPLE CHUTNEY

Ingredients: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 1 cup chopped red onion; 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger; 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes; 1/3 cup dried cherries; 1 tablespoon brown sugar; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 3/4 cup water; 1 large Grannie Smith apple, cored and finely chopped; 3/4 teaspoon cornstarch; 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar.

Method: Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet on a medium heat. Add the onion, ginger and red pepper flakes. Sautee for 5 minutes.

Add the dried cherries, brown sugar and salt to the pan. Stir until well incorporated. Stir in the water and cook covered until the cherries soften. Add the chopped apple and cover. Continue cooking for 7 minutes until the apple begins to soften.

Mix the cornstarch with a few teaspoons of water until dissolved. Add the cornstarch mixture to the pan and stir the mixture until coated and slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the balsamic vinegar. Allow to cool and refrigerate.

For our New Year's Day dinner on Sunday I suggest roast pork. I like a nice pork loin and you can roast it either with sauerkraut or on its own and make a delicious golden brown gravy with the pan drippings.

Fresh roasted pork done to a golden brown with thickened pan gravy is a wonderful meal to start the New Year. You can serve mashed potatoes, roast the potatoes to a golden brown around the pork, basting frequently with the juice, or serve sweet potatoes, either baked or candied.

If you want sauerkraut, I like to brown the meat on all sides in a pan on top of the stove, then pop it in the oven at 350 degrees. The roasting time will depend on the size of the meat. Add a little water to get a brown natural gravy started. Now add your sauerkraut to the pan and baste the kraut with the gravy. Add a half bottle of beer to the roaster, more if you are cooking a couple pounds of kraut. It is Straub's Beer of St. Marys in our house.

You can add some hot dogs and, or kielbasa to the pan, particularly if you are serving a large number of people.

Traditionally, mashed potatoes are served with this meal, but you can add peeled, quartered white potatoes to the roaster. You might want to add the other half of that beer if you do that, insuring you will have enough gravy for the potatoes and kraut.

I like to serve pumpernickle or good rye bread with seeds with this.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE FRYING PAN.

If you have a cooking or barbecuing question, are looking for a recipe, or want to share a recipe you may contact Fran Fry at 231 Pone Lane, Franklin, 16323, or e-mail him at frypan@csonline.net, or check out his website, fransfryingpan.com. If you want a reply to a question through the mail, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Fran Fry is an award-winning food writer and long-time outdoor and barbecue cook. He writes a weekly food column which is syndicated in several Pennsylvania newspapers, including The Corry Journal, The North East News Journal and The West Erie County News Journal.