Spinach Pie

This torta was always referred to as a "pie" in both our and my maternal grandmother's home. Usually it was made with whatever greens and herbs were either available in the nearby fields or at the greengrocer's . Swiss Chard may be substituted for the spinach. Ingredients are described as "bunches" in some cases. That is because these vegetables come in bunches, i.e. a bunch of beets, a bunch of greens, etc. Actually the exact proportion of each green is not important, and the dish is still good when either ingredients or proportions thereof are varied.

1	Lb.	Spinach - Frozen
1	Lb	Broccoli - Frozen
1/2	Cup	Extra Virgin olive oil
1/2	Lb	Sausage meat - Italian (See Note #2)
1/2	Cup	Olives - black and pitted - (Not canned olives!)
1	Lg.	Egg - beaten
4	Cloves	Garlic - chopped
2	Tbl.	Parmesan cheese - freshly grated
Q.B.		Salt and Pepper

Note 1: Swiss Chard may be substituted for the spinach.

Note 2: Many Italian pies contain no meat whatsoever. Some might even consider the dish "ruined" with sausage meat. Feel free to leave it out.

2 1/4	Cups	Flour - All purpose unbleached
2	Lg.	Eggs - beaten with a little water and salt
1/2	Cup	Olive oil - Extra Virgin
1	Tbl.	Sugar
4	Tbl.	Water - warm

Put the wet ingredients in a well made in the flour - if mixing by hand. Is using a food processor, add the wet ingredients to the flour in the processor bowl. In either case, mix until a smooth dough is obtained. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

Thaw the spinach and broccoli in either hot water or the microwave oven. Drain well and squeeze to remove most of the water.

Fry the sausage meat in half of the olive oil, then drain off the fat. Add all of the other ingredients including the spinach and broccoli, and mix well.

Roll out half of the dough and press into a deep pie pan. Lay this piece into an oiled pie plate, making sure that the dough rests on the bottom of the bottom of the pan with no air pockets. Let the dough hang over the sides for now. Spoon the filling into the pan, gently pressing it from time to time to remove air pockets. Stop when filling reaches about 1/4 inch from the top.

Roll out the second piece of dough. Wet the edges of the dough forming the bottom with either water or milk, and place the second piece of dough on the torta. Use the tines of a fork to attach the top piece to the bottom along the top edge of the pan. Cut the excess dough hanging off the sides with a scissors.

Snip 3 or 4 small holes in the top of the dough to allow air and liquid to escape while baking. Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, and place on a rack. Allow to cool, then remove the torta.

The torta may be served warm, at room temperature or cold. We like it best served at room temperature with a good olive oil drizzled over it. It may be served as a main course or as an appetizer.