What is Erbazzone?
Erbazzone is a savory spinach pie that is traditionally known as scarpazoun in Italy. Other variations of this recipe include scarpasot or montanaro. Scarpasot doesn’t require pie crust as scarpazoun does, and the montanaro version uses rice on the side.
Regardless of the variation you use, this savory snack can act as an excellent appetizer. We love how erbazzone contains the simplest ingredients and doesn’t take a ton of effort to throw together. If you are looking for an easy way to add more vegetables to your diet, look no further than erbazzone. We are sharing some of the best erbazzone recipes today. Enjoy!
1. Spinach and Cheese Erbazzone
The crust on this erbazzone is extra thin and crispy, which makes for a rustic presentation. This recipe calls for frozen spinach, which is chopped and thawed before being cooked. You can mix the dough without using a stand mixer; all you need is a mixing bowl, fork, and two hands. After kneading the dough, you will let it sit out at room temperature for about 2 hours.
While you’re waiting on the dough, you will cook the spinach on a skillet along with crushed garlic cloves and olive oil. After the spinach is heated through, discard the garlic and mix in parmesan, ricotta cheese, eggs, and a touch of salt to complete the filling. This recipe is very budget-friendly, and we love how easy it is to follow the steps for this recipe.
Get the full recipe and instructions from Food and Wine.
2. Chard Pie
This recipe calls for either fresh spinach or Swiss chard, which will be boiled and wrung out before being sautéed. Raw Swiss chard tastes quite bitter, but once cooked, it tastes mild, almost like spinach. Either vegetable is virtually interchangeable when it comes to making erbazzone.
This recipe uses a combination of butter and lard for the filling, along with olive oil, onion, garlic, pancetta, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. You will also make a homemade puff pastry using all-purpose flour, lard, and salt. Also, the author says to use hot water to mix the dough. After letting it rest, knead it and roll it out to about ½ inch thick to create the pie’s top and bottom layers.
Assemble all the layers and bake it for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F until golden brown, then serve and enjoy.
Get the full recipe and instructions from Cook on the Lakes.
3. Spinach, Pancetta, and Ricotta Pie
For this recipe, the presentation of the erbazzone looks similar to a calzone. Make sure to leave room around the outside edges of the pastry to create a good seal. The author says it goes perfectly when served with fresh lemon wedges. As you read through the recipe, don’t be confused when you come across the word eschalot; it is the same thing as a shallot.
Another interesting ingredient in this erbazzone recipe is called silverbeet, which is the same as Swiss chard. Remove the stems and shred the silverbeet before sautéing it with some chopped pancetta, shallots, and garlic.
If you don’t have the time to make fresh dough, this recipe calls for Careme brand sour cream shortcrust pastry dough. This brand is common in Australia, so you probably won’t find it in the United States. However, store-bought puff pastry sheets will give you similar results. You will cook it at 200 degrees C, which converts to 392 degrees F (bump it up to 400 if your oven can’t adjust to that precise temperature).
Get the full recipe and instructions from Delicious.
4. Potato Zucchini Erbazzone Tart with Pesto
If you aren’t too keen on spinach fillings, this erbazzone recipe is for you. It calls for some coarsely mashed potatoes mixed with some pesto. You will also mix in sautéed zucchini and spring onions to the potato filling.
The author also provides info on how to make a fresh dough with all-purpose flour, water, and olive oil. After letting it rise, roll out the dough into one thin layer (less than ½ an inch thick) and cut ¾ of that dough to press into the bottom of a 9-inch tart pan. Add in your potato and zucchini filling and some cubed mozzarella cheese and spread it into one even layer.
The last bit of dough will need to be shaped into a circle to cover your tart and seal in the filling. Instead of an egg wash, this recipe says to brush the top with olive oil and make multiple piercings with a toothpick to allow airflow through the tart as it bakes.
Get the full recipe and instructions from La Cucina Italiana.
5. Vegan Erbazzone
All of the previous recipes include some type of cheese in the erbazzone filling. However, erbazzone can easily be a vegan recipe, as we see in this last one. Tofu is the substitute for the cheese to give your vegan filling that creamy consistency. The dough uses whole wheat and durum wheat flour, which you will mix by hand to create a firm, elastic dough.
One ingredient that adds a unique flavor to this recipe is capers. Caper buds are about the size of a pea, whereas caper berries are about as big as olives. You will be adding caper buds to flavor your filling, which you can find in the seasoning section at most grocery stores.
Feel free to use whatever baking dish you have available to cook the erbazzone in; the author doesn’t specify any particular pan. They also don’t specify the dough’s thickness; you just have to roll it out thin enough to make a top and bottom layer for your erbazzone.
Get the full recipe and instructions from Vegan 3000.
We hope you enjoyed learning about this Italian classic. Feel free to get creative with any of the recipes to make a one-of-a-kind erbazzone your whole family will love!
If you like this posts, we think you’ll like our Erbazzone recipe.
