Aunt Anna's Easter meat pie

There is a perfectly good explanation for eating an Easter pie in June.

And her name is Aunt Anna.

Every year, Anna makes an extra meat pie just for me. It's not that I'm so special (she will be the first to tell you this, I am sure), it's that I'm rarely able to make it to Easter dinner with the family and she feels (strongly, lucky for me) that I should not entirely miss out on the fun.

My dear aunt knows that it could be awhile, months perhaps, before I can retrieve my pie. It comes out of her oven, cools on a rack near the terrace that faces east and therefore to me, gets tightly packed and fast frozen, then sits in her small freezer until her (devoted) nephew comes and gets it.

Doesn't matter how long it takes for me to show up. Or how many other family members might covet this frozen treasure. It's my pie. Because Anna made it for me. End of story.

This is a love I wish for you all.

Anyways, I went and fetched said Easter Meat Pie (aka Pizza Rustica, as well as a bunch of other things) last weekend, and thought you might enjoy a look.

The recipe's below, but this is all meat, cheese and egg.

The red stuff is not -- I repeat, not -- tomato. It is pepperoni, something I don't usually seek out, but here it is most welcome.

Anna said that I could write about her pie and reprint the recipe (her exact words, if memory serves, were "go ahead, whadda I care") as long as I did not include a picture of her. Reluctantly, I agreed.

This recipe will make a few pies, depending on how big you make them.

Aunt Anna's Easter Meat Pie

For the pie crust

2 cups all purpose flour

3 Tbsp Crisco

Pinch of salt

Pepper to taste

Mix together and form a crust

For the filling

1 lb. proscuitto

1 lb. dry salami

2 sticks pepperoni

3 lbs. ricotta

1 lb. mozzarella

1 basket cheese (kind of a cross between ricotta and mozzarella, found in Italian specialty stores around Easter)

18 eggs

Dice the meats and the mozzarella

Beat the eggs, add in the ricotta and mix well

Add all the other ingredients and incorporate

Pour into prepared pie plates and bake at 350 degrees F for about an hour

Optional, though highly recommended final step: Let one pie cool thoroughly, wrap tightly, then place in the freezer, leave a Comment for yours truly with your location and convenient time for a pickup. I'll get there just as soon as I can.