Torta Rustica di Pecorino e Ciauscolo a.k.a. Sausage and Romano Cheese Country Tart

 

Garnished with more chickpeas and thinly sliced onions.

I have slightly adapted one of the recipes from my cooking vacation in Norcia by suggesting the use of ground sausage meat rather than cured meat. Either works. It is the aromatics in this savoury pie (the rosemary and the orange zest) that really make the difference.

 

What you see in the photo above is an individual-sized portion containing a single 0.5 cm. slice of salumi.  Salumi are Italian cured meats predominantly made from pork. The word is derived from the word salume (pl. salumi) meaning "salted meat", which in turn originates from Latin sal meaning "salt".

 

FYI, all you pedantic types out there, what we in North America call salami is a specific type of salumi.

 

Ingredients for one large tart:

·         8 ounces puff pastry

·         10 oz (250 gm) mild sausage

          ( cook it first if using ground meat; slice it if using a cured   meat)

·         ¾ cup boiled chickpeas ( or tinned chickpeas rinsed)

·         1 small twig of fresh rosemary

·         pepper to taste

·         ½ cup of pecorino cheese chopped into small pieces or grated

·         2 cups heavy cream

·         5 eggs

·         zest of one orange

 

Mix the filling for the tart by combining the eggs, grated orange peel, cream, pepper, rosemary, and pecorino cheese. Let this mixture rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. In the meantime roll out the puff pastry into a round and fit the dough into a large pie plate. Cover the pastry on the bottom of the pie plate with the sausage and chickpeas. Pour in the prepared filling and bake the tart at 340 degrees F. for 40 minutes.