Neapolitan savory pie with broccoli rabe, sausage, and provola
Neapolitan savory pie with broccoli rabe, sausage, and provola, a delicious Neapolitan rustic dish suitable for any season, easy to prepare.
Ideal for Easter or in summer to take for a day trip, a picnic or to the beach. It can be prepared the day before and reheated the next day in the oven at 392°F for 15 minutes, or it’s equally good cold.
This Neapolitan rustic pie is made with a light crazy dough with white wine, without eggs and butter.
The “cervellatine” are a variety of thin Neapolitan pork sausages. If you can’t find them for this recipe, you can easily use regular crumbled sausages.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Affordable
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 6 People
- Cooking methods: Stove, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for the Neapolitan savory pie with broccoli rabe, sausage, and provola
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup re-milled durum wheat semolina (Caputo brand)
- 2/3 cup dry white wine
- 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp fine salt
- to taste instant polenta flour (for the surface, optional)
- 2.2 lbs broccoli rabe (I buy them already cleaned, or turnip tops)
- 1 1/2 lbs cervellatine (thin Neapolitan sausages, skinless and crumbled)
- 9 oz smoked provola (or scamorza)
- 10 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp dry white wine
- 4 cloves garlic
- to taste fine salt
- to taste hot chili pepper (optional)
- to taste black peppercorns (ground, optional)
Tools
- Stand Mixer Kenwood with 1400W of power, illuminated bowl
- Cutting Board with two integrated side trays, oven-safe
- Mezzaluna sharp with double blade
- Pot
- Pan
- Rolling Pin
- Pan Agnelli Professional 8.7 inches in diameter
Steps for the Neapolitan savory pie with broccoli rabe, sausage, and provola
I will preface this by saying it’s a very easy dough that you can easily work by hand. For convenience, I prefer to use the stand mixer with the leaf beater.
Take a bowl and pour in: the semolina, the flour, the extra virgin olive oil, the white wine, and finally, the fine salt.
Work the dough for about 5 minutes (10 if by hand). It should not be sticky.
Once ready, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest covered by a pot – for at least 1 hour – at room temperature (even better if you store it overnight, in this case in the fridge). Wash the broccoli rabe and cut them into small pieces, place them in boiling salted water for about 4 minutes and then drain them well.
Remove the casing from the cervellatine (or sausages), crumble them well into small pieces. Take a pan, pour 50 ml of extra virgin olive oil, and brown a clove of garlic and chili pepper (optional); when the oil is hot, add the crumbled sausage and let it brown for about 7 minutes, deglazing with 20 ml of dry white wine. It should not be dry but soft and just golden.
Once the sausage is cooked, set it aside and, in the same pan, pour about 90 ml of extra virgin olive oil, a clove of garlic, chili pepper (optional), heat the oil, and then add the previously blanched broccoli rabe, salt, and let them flavor for about 10 minutes over medium heat. Then set them aside and let them cool.
Take the dough and divide it into two parts: one slightly larger for the base and the other for the cover, roll the two parts on a floured surface with polenta flour and form a round shape with the rolling pin.
Place the larger part on a round pan of 8.7 inches in diameter, greased with oil and sprinkled with polenta flour, pierce the bottom of the dough with the tines of a fork, cover the bottom with thinly sliced provola, add the broccoli rabe, then the crumbled sausage, if any broccoli rabe and sausage are left, continue to make layers up to the edge and finish with a final layer of provola slices.
Slightly compress the filling with your hands and finally cover it with the dough disc for the cover, sealing the edges well.
Gently pierce the surface of the savory pie with the tines of a fork, brush it well with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with polenta flour, to make it more rustic and tasty.
Bake the rustic pie in a preheated oven directly on the base of the oven at 356°F for about 15 minutes, then move the pan to the middle of the oven and continue cooking at 392°F for about 40 minutes, until golden.
Let it cool and serve. This savory pie is also good cold and can be frozen in slices.
Shopping Tips !!!
To knead perfectly and conveniently, I also often use my Kenwood Titanium Chef Patissier XL stand mixer with illuminated 7L bowl, integrated scale, and blender with 1400W of power, a faithful ally in the kitchen for: kneading, weighing, whipping, melting chocolate, pasteurizing eggs.
If you are looking for a more affordable and smaller stand mixer, you can easily choose to purchase the Kenwood Titanium Chef Baker stand mixer, with dual 5L and 3.5L bowls, 1200W of power.
To chop and mince foods, I always use this handy cutting board with integrated side trays (one for sliced food, the other for scraps) and this very sharp mezzaluna with double blade.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Difference between broccoli rabe, broccoletti, and turnip tops
Broccoli rabe is commonly called turnip tops or broccoletti, depending on the region.
Specifically, the term “broccoli rabe” is typical of Campania, and it specifically refers to the inflorescences of the turnip top.
Broccoletti is a term used mainly in Lazio and other regions to refer to turnip tops.
Turnip tops is the most widespread term for the entire plant, including leaves, stems (including the inflorescences).
