Easter is about family recipes and these three RI favorites will help you set the table

Easter cooking means having a ton of fresh eggs on hand. Whether you are baking cookies, rice pies or Pizza Rustica, a traditional Easter meat and cheese pie, eggs are a primary ingredient.

Here are three Easter recipes from The Journal archives.

The Angelo's Rice Pie comes from a family recipe shared 20 years ago by Rosalie Antignano, mother of current Angelo's Civita Farnese proprietor Jamie Antignano.

Though every Italian-American family has its own way of making Pizza Rustica, the recipe here comes from the local Supreme Dairy Farm Company, shared back 16 years ago.

Italian Egg Biscuits

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup oil

4 eggs

3/4 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons anise extract

5 (or more) cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix together sugar, oil, eggs, orange juice and anise extract.

In a very large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Combine with wet ingredients.

Add more flour as needed in order to be able to work with dough. But you want less flour than more. Let dough rest about 15 minutes. Shape into balls or pretzel shapes. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes till lightly golden. Watch them carefully so as not to overcook. Cool on racks.

To make frosting: Use one box confectioner's sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla and mix with 4 tablespoons of milk. Add more milk to get the consistency of a thin frosting.

Angelo's Italian Rice Pie

2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons flour

12 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 quart milk

12-ounce can evaporated milk

4 cups cooked rice

Ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch Pyrex dish.

Measure out sugar and flour, whisk together in a bowl.

Beat 12 eggs in a mixer bowl. Slowly add the sugar and flour mixture; beat well. Add vanilla. Gradually add milk and evaporated milk. Slowly add cooked rice.

Remove from mixer and stir with spatula. Pour into prepared dish. Run a fork through the mixture to make sure that rice is well distributed and there are no clumps. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and then lower to 350 degrees and continue baking for 1 hour. Check after 45 minutes due to varying oven temperatures. Rice pie should be puffy and slightly brown. Remove from oven and cool completely. Then refrigerate overnight.

Supreme Pizza Rustica

2 10-inch pie crusts

6 eggs

2 cups whole milk ricotta

1⁄2 pound fresh basket cheese (a fresh Italian cheese made only at Easter time)

1⁄2 pound mozzarella (cubed)

1 pound prosciutto, cubed

1 teaspoon black pepper

Line extra-deep baking dish with one pie crust. Beat eggs in large bowl. Add cheeses, prosciutto and pepper. Thoroughly blend all ingredients.

Pour mixture into a lined baking dish. Cover with remaining pie crust.

Cut slits in upper crust to allow steam to escape. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until firm in center.