Lettuce pie

In Southern Italy, the filling I did for this pie, is usually prepared with a variety of the endive family, most commonly known as: escarole; scarola in Italian. In the Campania region you can also find pizza topped with this mixture. Since escarole is not easily found locally I replaced it with lettuce and the taste came as good. Follow the recipe below.

Summery lettuce pie

Ingredients for 4 persons:

• 1 roll ready made puff pastry
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• chili pepper, thinly sliced
• 25g anchovies, drained
• 300g lettuce leaves, cleaned and washed
• 30g capers
• 80g olives, stoned and halved
• 30g sultanas, soaked in water
• 20g pine nuts
• extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 egg
• salt & pepper

In a casserole pour some olive oil, add the finely chopped onion, drained anchovies and chili pepper. Cook until onion is transparent. Roughly chop the lettuce leaves and add to the pan stirring delicately until lettuce softens. Remove from heat and add the capers, olives, and drained sultanas. Season with salt and pepper.

Roll out the puff pastry on the appropriate baking dish. Pinch the base with a fork and brush with a beaten egg. Top the pastry with the lettuce mixture, scatter the pine nuts and arrange the sliced tomatoes on top. Fold in border of pastry to create an enclosed edge. Brush top with the remaining egg to create a golden look. Cook in a preheated oven of 200 ° Celsius for about 20 minutes or according to the pastry cooking instructions.