Torta Rustica: Carciofi e Prosciutto Cotto

It’s carciofi (artichoke) season and as I volunteered to make some torte rustiche for my nieces birthday party, I thought a torta rustica with carciofi would be a good choice.

As I have mentioned in my earlier post, I have never made torta rustica before and now I just love them! It’s a great dish for parties, potlucks or picnics as it is not only easy to make but also tasty and best of all, it is good without  having to warm it up.

Torta Rustica: Carciofi and Prosciutto Cotto (Artichokes and Ham)

Adapted from Misya.info

Ingredients

1 package of puff pastry
5 artichokes
80-100gr deli ham (thin slices)
200 ml milk
3 eggs
50 gr parmigiano
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Clean the artichokes and cut them into pieces.

2. Place the pieces of artichokes into a pan, add a cup of water and a drizzle of oil.  Cook for 20-30 mins.

3. Once the artichokes are cooked, leave them to cool.

4. Beat eggs, add the milk, parmigiano and salt and pepper to taste.

5. Roll out the pastry sheet into a round baking pan. Prick the bottom with a fork.

6. Add half of the artichokes onto the pastry sheet and place cut pieces of deli ham on top. Then the rest of the artichokes and cover the top again with pieces of deli ham.

7. Pour the milk and egg mixture over the artichokes and ham.

8. Bake at 180C for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cooking notes:
– You can also use frozen artichokes (600g) if you can’t get fresh ones.
– If you leave out the deli ham, this torta rustica makes a very nice vegetarian dish.