Rivello Stuffed Pizza

Stuffed pizza, in dialect O’pizzetto chien, is a typical Rivellese preparation. It has two variants linked to the rituals of Good Friday and Holy Saturday: stuffed with sweet white onions left to cook slowly in a little oil and water with a pinch of salt and salted anchovies on Good Friday; with eggs, cold cuts and cheese on Holy Saturday. In the latter variant, sweet sausage, soperzata di Rivello and caciocavallo podolico are cut into chunks, the hard-boiled eggs are sliced, and fresh eggs are used to amalgamate the mixture, which is then flavoured with plenty of grated pecorino cheese. Both versions use bread dough to make the two discs closed like a casket and filled with the tasty fillings.
The diameter is about 35-40 cm. The stuffed pizza weighs between 2-2.5 kg (the one with eggs, cold cuts, cheese is heavier). The colour is the amber of leavened dough baked in a wood-burning oven; the sweet, familiar smell of bread is complemented by the recognisable and intense smells – in the two variants – of sweet onions and anchovies, local cured meats and cheese. The consistency is compact, moist inside, and the taste and flavours are those linked to the rural tradition of Lucania and southern Italy in general.
The product, made unique by the excellence of the local products and the ancient and traditional local know-how, is only eaten on Good Friday and Holy Saturday. In August, the only bakery in Rivello that still produces and sells the stuffed pizza organises a festival that is well attended and where the product can be tasted.
The product, similar to other preparations from other southern regions and other parts of Basilicata, has particular specific features, linked as it is, in the duplicity of its stuffing, to the history and culture of the town of Rivello, no less than to its religious rituals.