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Cheesy-Veggie Pie, with Salami, held together by Eggs and a Splash of Milk

10 Dec


Quiche? Frittata? Cheesy-veggie pie, with salami, held together by eggs and a splash of milk.

Whatever its called, its easy, I made it up, its healthy, its got pie crust.

And it’s great leftover the next day.


Cheesy-Veggie Pie, with Salami, held together by Eggs and a Splash of Milk

1 recipe for pie crust
1 head of broccoli, cut into tiny bites
1 zucchini, sliced thin
8 slices salami
Cheddar cheese + this other amazing Spanish cheese that I had, too
6 eggs
splash of milk
salt and pepper

1. Make you crust. Refrigerate. Roll it out. Place into a pie plate or tart pan lined with parchment. Pre-bake your crust in a 400 degree F oven until just lightly colored, about 15-20 min.

2. Take your zucchini and salami and place along the bottom of the tart pan. Whisk together your broccoli, cheeses, and eggs with a splash of milk and salt and pepper. Pour into the tart pan over the salami and zucchini. Bake until done, about 30 min.

3. Let cool for about 5 minutes. Serve.

Fig Galette aka Figs in my Belly (For Real)

20 Sep


Once upon a time there was a dinner party. After dinner the guests ate dessert. A beautiful purple dessert. A purple dessert with a nice golden flaky crust. Warmed and topped with homemade vanilla bean ice cream. Now that’s a dinner party!

Fig Galette in the making:

Oh, yes, and there was also a lovely yellow nectarine galette:


I used this recipe for my dough. For the fig galette, I spread the bottom of the dough with raspberry jam, topped it with my sliced fresh figs, and then sprinkled a touch of sugar over the top. Super easy, and the result is just gorgeous.

>Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

26 Aug

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Strawberry rhubarb pie. Lovable lovable pie. Even my Comcast installation guy got to eat a slice of pie, lucky guy, eh? Let me warm you a slice and give you a scoop of my homemade honey vanilla ice cream. Or I can wrap you up a piece to go…How about some pie for breakfast with a nice mug of milky coffee?

One might ask, “how do you prevent this sought-after sweet treat to keep from getting soggy and overly juicy?” Quick-cooking tapioca does the trick. It is tasteless and helps the juicy berries and rhubarb from turning your pie into a messy ordeal. Quick-cooking tapioca is a thickening agent that helps the pie filling gel together. Some folks use cornstarch as an alternative thickener, however both myself and a few other food bloggers who I confirmed with agree that quick-cooking tapioca is the way to go.

(P.S. This is not my photo, nor is this my dog; image taken off of google images)

I made my pie in a tart shell pan, but you can also use a pie plate, it just depends on your preference. If you decide to use a tart shell pan, it is a good idea to cut out a circle of parchment paper and line the bottom of your pan with the parchment to ensure that your crust does not stick to the bottom of the pan.


Oh, and whatever you do, try not to eat the pie straight from the oven. Wait until the pie is COMPLETELY cool before you cut into it. Trust me, it is worth the wait. Otherwise, you will be sorry that you got sloppy messy slices of pie that are just not as pretty anymore.

So, let us begin our adventure in pie…


Tart and Pie Dough

from Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food

Makes two 10-ounce balls of dough, enough for two 11-inch tarts or one double-crust 9-inch pie

Have measured:
1/2 cup ice-cold water

Mix together: 2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour 1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)

Add:
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold butter, cut into small (1/4-inch) cubes

1. Cut or work the butter into the flour with a pastry blender or your fingertips, leaving some of the butter in fairly large, irregular pieces. This will take 1 or 2 minutes. (Or mix for no more than a minute, at medium-low speed, in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.)

2. Pour in three quarters of the water, stirring all the while with a fork until the dough begins to form clumps. (In the mixer, turn the speed to low and pour the water down the sides of the bowl, mixing for 30 seconds or less.) Keep adding water if needed.

3. Divide the dough in two, bring each part together into a ball, and wrap each ball in plastic. Compress each ball, and then flatten them into disks. Let rest, refrigerated, for 1 hour or longer.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

from SmittenKitchen

1 recipe pie/tart dough (enough to make a double-crust pie) (recipe above)
3 1/2 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds, untrimmed) rhubarb, in 1/2-inch thick slices
3 1/2 cups (about 1 pound) strawberries, hulled and sliced if big, halved
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg, beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water or cream (for glaze)
granulated or raw sugar (for sprinkling)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Take one of your dough disks out of the refrigerator and let it sit out for 15-20 minutes until it becomes malleable but not soft (it should still be fairly cold). On a well-floured counter, roll half of pie dough into a 12 inch round and carefully transfer to a 9-inch pie plate or tart pan. Place it in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Stir together rhubarb, strawberries, sugars, lemon, salt, and tapioca in a large bowl. Mound the filling inside the bottom pie crust and dot with bits of unsalted butter.

Roll the second half of pie dough into an 11-inch circle and cut decorative slits in it. Transfer it to the center over the pie filling. Trim the top and bottom pie dough so that their overhang beyond the pie plate lip is only 1/2-inch. Tuck the rim of the dough underneath itself and crimp it decoratively.

Transfer pie to a baking sheet and brush beaten egg mixture over the dough. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes, rotate the pie, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until the pie is golden and the juices bubble visibly.

Transfer pie to a wire rack to cool. When full cool (several hours later or overnight) the juices gel.

**The pie should keep for up to three days at room temperature.

Savory Summer Galette

5 Aug

Remember the blueberry and summer peach galette that I made last week? The recipe makes enough dough for 2 tarts, and since the dough is not sweet, it can be used for either (or in my case, both) sweet and savory tarts. When I was making my fruit tart, I stuck the other dough in the freezer for later use.

I used the second dough to make a savory galette, my filling consisting of pretty much whatever ingredients I had on-hand at the time at home. After rolling out my dough, I spread a thin layer of olive tapenade along the bottom. Then I chopped some red and yellow cherry tomatoes from the garden in half and added a touch of salt and pepper.

My next layer was tiny chopped pieces of zucchini, followed by some Parmesan cheese slivers and feta cheese cubes. I piled everything in the middle of my dough and drizzled a touch of olive oil on top for a nice finish.

This is like a pizza pie…but better (well, different…!).

You can use any vegetable or filling idea that you want! Try experimenting with different cheeses i.e. ricotta, a smoky gouda, soft goat cheese, a rich brie…Try caramelizing onions and adding walnuts and lemon zest. Maybe do a fig and honey galette. Or potato, fontina, pancetta, and rosemary. Yes, herbs! Basil, rosemary, oregano, parsley. Crack an egg of the whole thing and bake it up! Oo la la, the possibilities are endless.

Savory Summer (or whatever season it happens to be…) Galette

For the dough:
Use your dough from this recipe

Filling:
(note: measurements are just estimated here…cook with your gut)
-2 tablespoons olive tapenade
–2 cups of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
–1 small zucchini, roughly chopped into tiny pieces
–salt and pepper
-3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, shaved or grated
-4 oz. feta cheese, cubed
–extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
-1 egg, lightly beaten

Let the dough warm up at room temperature for 15 minutes or so and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a rough circle about 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer the pastry to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate while preparing the filling.

Prep all of your veggies and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and spread the middle with the olive tapenade, leaving a 1 1/2 inch border around the circumference of the dough. Pile your tomatoes and zucchini in the center on top of the olive tapenade. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese and then the feta cheese on top. Drizzle a little olive oil over the filling.

Fold the dough over up over the filling, and brush the rim of the dough lightly with beaten egg.

Bake in the lower part of the oven for 45-50 minutes, until the cheese is lightly browned and the pastry is golden brown and slightly caramelized at the edges. Slide the tart off the pan to cool on a rack. Slice and serve!

>Blueberry and Summer Peach Galette with Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

1 Aug

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Oh baby, look at that oozing berry juice spilling out of the galette!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Light, summery, refreshing, beautiful. This fruit galette is just heaven– beautiful blues and purples from the blueberries and reds and orange colors from the peaches. The thin flaky crust serves as the perfect bed for the sweet juicy fruit. Paired with some dang good homemade vanilla bean ice cream, all I have to say is “mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm!”


A galette is a thin, free-form open-face tart. The dough is not sweet and can be used for savory tarts as well as dessert. Once you make the dough, the filling is your choice, pretty much anything goes.

…

…

…

…I am at a loss for words. Just make it, eat it, share it, enjoy it.

Blueberry and Summer Peach Galette

adapted from Alice Waters’ In the Green Kitchen

6 to 8 servings

This recipe makes enough dough for 2 tarts. The dough will keep in the refrigerator for 2 days or in the freezer for several months

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/3 to 1/2 cup ice-cold water

3-4 medium peaches
1 cup of blueberries
sugar
1 egg

If making the crust by hand: Measure the flour and salt (if including) into a bowl. The butter should be cold and firm, but not hard. Cut into 1/4-1/2 inch cubes and put about half of it into the bowl. Work it into the flour with your fingertips, lightly rubbing and breaking the flour-coated pieces of butter into small bits, until the mixture is roughly the texture of oatmeal or cornmeal. Add the rest of the butter and work it quickly into the dough until the pieces of butter are about half of their original size. Dribble the water into the dough while tossing the mixture with a fork. Keep adding water only until the dough begins to clumo and hold together when you squeeze a handful. You may not need the full 1/2 cup. Divide the dough into two and gather each part into a ball. Wrap each ball in plastic and flatten it into a disk. Let the dough rest, refrigerated, for an hour or so (I like to do it the night before…). You may want to freeze the second disk of dough for future use.

If you are using an electric mixer: Just follow the above directions but instead of using your fingers to incorporate the butter, use your fingers to turn on your mixer (use the paddle attachment).

When ready to make the tart: Let the dough warm up at room temperature for 15 minutes or so and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a rough circle about 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer the pastry to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate while preparing the fruit.

Peel and slice the peaches (or whatever fruit you use) and toss with 1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar. I added blueberries to this, too. Freely pile the fruit in the center of the dough, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border of dough around the whole circumference. Fold the dough over up over the fruit, and brush the rim of the dough lightly with beaten egg. Sprinkle sugar over the dough and fruit; use more or less, depending on the tartness of the fruit.

Bake in the lower part of the oven for 45-50 minutes, until the fruit is tender and the pastry is golden brown and slightly caramelized at the edges. Slide the tart off the pan to cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature–with softly whipped cream or homemade ice cream, if you like.

Some notes:

If you are using juicy stone fruits such as peaches, nectarines, apricots, and plums: to help absorb the juices sprinkle a mixture of 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, and 1 tablespoon ground almonds (optional) on the pastry before topping with the fruit.

Apple galette is delicious when you spread the rolled-out dough with apricot jam before arranging the apples on top. After baking, brush the apples with warm apricot jam for a beautiful glaze.

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