Easter Pie

Many, many years ago I worked at a popular local restaurant.  I became friendly with an Italian family who were regulars at the restaurant.   Through discussions, I learned about Easter Pie from them.

It is an involved savory pie prepared before Easter, usually on Good Friday or Saturday, and enjoyed
on Easter Sunday and thereafter.

This was totally new to me....I had never heard of it. My Mother-in-law did not make it.   Then, once I started making the pies, I would discover that almost every Italian family had their own version of "Easter Pie".

The original recipe given to me by those customers had a yield of 11-12 pies!  That is what I made the first year I attempted these pies.

I then obtained a recipe from a dear family friend.  Her recipe gave a yield of five (5) pies. (It has ham, pepperoni, sausage, ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan and tons of eggs!)    That was
a bit more reasonable, especially since I was working out of a tiny galley kitchen!

As my daughters grew and acquired husbands, the Easter Pie became a Giordano tradition....with everyone wanting a pie for their family.  My firstborn granddaughter, Madeleine, became my assistant in recent years.

We would work for about three days.  One day would be chopping all of the cheeses and meats.
Another day we would prepare all of the doughs and let them rest in the fridge overnight.  Finally,
we would assemble the pies.  It was wonderful spending the time with her.  We would then color
eggs....not any ordinary coloring, mind you!.....we would color our eggs GOLD!  It was great fun.

Now I am up to about 8-9 pies to make!

This year my dear Madeleine may not be able to help as much as she is quite busy with her college studies and working.  (My second granddaughter would be a great help at only six years of age, but she is in New York!)

These photos are our Easter Pie work-in-progress from two years ago.

I am contemplating making the pies ahead of time and freezing them, since I may be doing them all by myself.   I have never done this before so I don't know if it will compromise the pies or not.

Do I hear anyone volunteering to help??