Rustic Torta with Artichokes, Carmelized Onions and Tomatoes

Ahhh, I think I could make a small fortune helping Italian based companies translate their website content to english!  I chuckle at some of the best intentioned translations.  I was recently poking around the website of a rather well-known Italian pasta maker who offers a wonderful repertoire of recipes.  But alas, every time I find one that tickles my fancy, I realize that the recipe is missing some key details – what type of pan? how much oil? what do I do with all this dough???  So having found a recipe for a rustic torta that made me salivate, I decided to fill in the gaps with my own cooking  prowess and hope for the best! Walaa – the torta (luckily) came out wonderfully!  This one is an easy one to make – the dough is a simple whirl of flour, ricotta and olive oil so very easy to work with.  I took much poetic license with the filling and added carmelized onions and fresh grape tomatoes to the artichokes and prosciutto.  I added a simple green salad , some crusty bread and a chilled bottle of Sicilian white and I was good to go! Enjoy!!

Rustic Torta with Artichokes, Carmelized Onions and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional if needed

7 ounces of ricotta (3/4 cup)

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the filling:

4 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, diced

2 boxes frozen artichoke hearts (9 ounces each)

6 ounces of prosciutto crudo, diced

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half

2 small balls mozzarella, diced (about 1/2 pound)

4 large eggs, beaten

1/2 cup grated parmigiano

Salt and freshly ground pepper

4 ounces fontina cheese, very thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

2. In a medium sized bowl,  knead together the flour, ricotta and olive oil until a very soft dough is formed.  Let rest for 30 minutes.

3. Heat the butter in a medium sized saute pan over medium heat. Add the diced onions and cook until carmelized (about 20 minutes).

4. Add the artichoke hearts and saute until they start to take on a bit of color. Remove from the heat. Let cool.

5. Mix in the diced prosciutto, tomatoes and mozzarella.

6. Mix the eggs with the parmigiano. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to form a sheet of dough large enough to cover the bottom and 3 inch up the sides of the springform pan.

8. Place dough in pan. Cover the thinly sliced fontina cheese on the bottom of the pan.

9. Top with the vegetable mixture then pour over the egg mixture.

10.  Bake for about 45 minutes or until the crust and vegetables begin to brown.

11. Serve and enjoy!!