Savory Pies have never been my kind of food. The word "pie" is still a bit foreign to me. Having lived most of my life in India, I haven grown up on pies. So I am still at this phase where I am exploring pies and learning to like them.
I should tell you how this recipe originated it, I wanted to make a Nettle-Mushroom pie. I had a huge bag of nettles from the farmer's market. I have never cooked Nettles before but I did want to try. As per the instructions I soaked them in boiling water for 2 mins and then tried to take off the larger stems and I got pricked by the thorny stem right in the middle of my palm ! ! !. Annoying, so well experiment Nettles failed and I replaced nettles with spinach tada.. :).
This recipe is easy, but it requires some time if your making everything on the same day. You can use either a store bought pie crust or just make one readily. I chose to make my pie crust.
To make it easier for you to make the dish, I am going to not give exact measurements, because thats the way I usually cook unless I am baking a cake or cookies which needs specific measurements. This will also allow you to enjoy cooking without focusing too much on measurements.
Ingredient List : Frozen Spinach, Mushrooms (any type) sliced, shallots sliced, few cloves of garlic sliced, thyme, chilli flakes salt, pepper, cottage cheese, grated parmesan cheese, Lemon zest, one egg
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- If you are using frozen pie crust it will be a great time to keep it out.
- I wasted a lot of time trying to wash nettles and cook them. With frozen spinach you will just need to thaw it by microwaving it and draining it. Place the frozen spinach in a microwave bowl and microwave for 3-5 mins.
- Meanwhile in a pan, add some olive oil, once its hot add the sliced shallots and garlic cloves, Sautee until they are caramelized or a golden brown in colour. Add a pinch of salt to help the process, after its done add the herbs and keep aside.
- In a food processor or mixing bowl, add your cottage cheese, lemon zest, salt, pepper, chilli flakes, egg and parmesan cheese, pulse till it all comes together. Lemon zest adds a freshness to the pie and breaks the heaviness of the cheese, if you dont like the lemony flavor you can omit adding lemon zest.
- Now add the caramelized onions and garlic, along with the spinach to the mix from the food processor and keep aside.
- This is my most favorite part, putting everything together. I cut out a circle a little bit bigger than my pie pan and then placed it inside my pan, making small dents around the circumference of the pan. Then slowly add the filling inside the pan. Top it off with the pine nuts and parmesan cheese.
- Bake in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. I baked mine exactly for 45 mins as I was too hungry ..
ENJOY !!!!...
I am giving away two " A Place at the table books" and two pins from Participant Media. The book talks about the Hunger problem in America and how its is affecting children and possible suggestions and ideas on what we can do about it. Here is your chance to get a copy of this book.
To enter this giveaway leave a comment and fill the entry form below. Contest closes on May 1st , Wednesday at 6 pm Pacific Time. The Give away is open to readers in the US only.
I should tell you how this recipe originated it, I wanted to make a Nettle-Mushroom pie. I had a huge bag of nettles from the farmer's market. I have never cooked Nettles before but I did want to try. As per the instructions I soaked them in boiling water for 2 mins and then tried to take off the larger stems and I got pricked by the thorny stem right in the middle of my palm ! ! !. Annoying, so well experiment Nettles failed and I replaced nettles with spinach tada.. :).
This recipe is easy, but it requires some time if your making everything on the same day. You can use either a store bought pie crust or just make one readily. I chose to make my pie crust.
To make it easier for you to make the dish, I am going to not give exact measurements, because thats the way I usually cook unless I am baking a cake or cookies which needs specific measurements. This will also allow you to enjoy cooking without focusing too much on measurements.
Ingredient List : Frozen Spinach, Mushrooms (any type) sliced, shallots sliced, few cloves of garlic sliced, thyme, chilli flakes salt, pepper, cottage cheese, grated parmesan cheese, Lemon zest, one egg
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- If you are using frozen pie crust it will be a great time to keep it out.
- I wasted a lot of time trying to wash nettles and cook them. With frozen spinach you will just need to thaw it by microwaving it and draining it. Place the frozen spinach in a microwave bowl and microwave for 3-5 mins.
- Meanwhile in a pan, add some olive oil, once its hot add the sliced shallots and garlic cloves, Sautee until they are caramelized or a golden brown in colour. Add a pinch of salt to help the process, after its done add the herbs and keep aside.
- In a food processor or mixing bowl, add your cottage cheese, lemon zest, salt, pepper, chilli flakes, egg and parmesan cheese, pulse till it all comes together. Lemon zest adds a freshness to the pie and breaks the heaviness of the cheese, if you dont like the lemony flavor you can omit adding lemon zest.
- Now add the caramelized onions and garlic, along with the spinach to the mix from the food processor and keep aside.
- This is my most favorite part, putting everything together. I cut out a circle a little bit bigger than my pie pan and then placed it inside my pan, making small dents around the circumference of the pan. Then slowly add the filling inside the pan. Top it off with the pine nuts and parmesan cheese.
- Bake in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. I baked mine exactly for 45 mins as I was too hungry ..
ENJOY !!!!...
I am giving away two " A Place at the table books" and two pins from Participant Media. The book talks about the Hunger problem in America and how its is affecting children and possible suggestions and ideas on what we can do about it. Here is your chance to get a copy of this book.
