Italian torta rustica

Don't call it quiche.

In Italy torta rustica is a seasonal staple and a versatile dish: it can serve as an appetizer, as a side dish, or be the main entree. 

With boundless recipes and fillings, the savory rustic pies of Italy were initially intended as thrifty fridge-cleaners, adding bits of leftover vegetables to a mix of cheese, cured meats and an egg to bind it all together in a flaky shell. 

If you're looking for savory pie baking inspiration, here’s a failsafe recipe for quick and easy vegetarian torta rustica filled with spinach and punchy gorgonzola cheese.

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Value dining in Rome

C'è crisi — it's crisis time: there's no way around it. Our former prime minister insisted the opposite as recently as last fall, when he told the world that Italian restaurants were packed to the hilt with happy folk spending money right, left and center. But that was 2011. Welcome to 2012, which finds Italy's economy poised on a slippery slope and trickling south faster than melting butter.

Dining out will remain an option for few fortunate foreign wayfarers and revolutionary nonconformists. But for others, pick carefully. Here's my shortlist of where to score a value meal, and still feel like living La Dolce Vita...

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