I made a vegetarian version of Pizza Rustica, for this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie assignment.  I read the comments of others planning to do a vegetarian version and decided to use roasted red peppers and Kalamata olives.  I was in San Francisco for a business meeting last week and so went to the ferry building to shop and found the olives and the red peppers at the Village Market and of course, bought the Romano cheese at the Cowgirl Creamery, my favorite cheese store.

I made the crust in the food processor and it worked wonderfully.  I had never done a lattice top before and was a bit apprehensive about it, but it turned out good, and wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.  As you can see this is not a regular pizza, it’s more like a cheese pie.

It tasted really good and it looked great.  This pie would certainly make an impression for a dinner party.  You could use all kinds add ins as the cheese provides a perfect palette for experimentation.  I used the whole 10 ounce jar of the Kalamata olives and the taste of the olives overpowered the roasted red peppers.  When I do it again I will use maybe half the jar.  I will try this recipe again sometime and try some onions and maybe artichoke hearts.  If you would like to try it out you can find the complete recipe on page 430 of Baking with Julia, or visit one the following blogs — Emily of Capital Region Dining or Raelynn of The Place They Call Home.