Tried my first savory pie today.

This was super easy, and pretty good.

I cheated and bought one of those Pillsbury roll-out crusts they have in the dairy section at Kroger.

1 cup ricotta
half a bag of baby spinach, washed, dried and torn up
1 cup of shredded mozzarella
1 cup of shredded asiago
half a cup of grated parmesan
4 eggs, beaten
1 pound of trader joe's chicken italian sausage (it comes fully cooked), cut into bite-sized pieces
1 clove garlic, crushed
salt and pepper to taste

So yeah, just mix everything together, saving one egg yolk for later.
Pour the filling into your crust-lined pan, then top with the...top crust. :) Brush on the egg yolk, then cook in a 375 oven for 50 minutes.


Would love some other savory pie ideas!

...and they are excellent. In their freezer case.

I hate using frozen crusts, but happily use the ones from TJs.

Carmelize three or four onions until lightly brown. (Cut them very thin) You want enough to fill the pie shell to the top. Then fill in with the egg/milk mixture. I use three eggs and a cup of half and half. That's it. Just onions and the egg/milk mixture. You can add cheese if you want but I like the lighter taste of the "lower" fat version.

1)Mushroom pie --Saute 1 -1/2 cups of mushrooms with 1/2 cup minced onion, two cloves of minced garlic. When done, add 1/2 cup cubed ham or about 2-3 slices of ham,julienned and dried or fresh thyme and parsley.*

For the dairy mix,use ricotta and shredded swiss cheese, skip the parm and cut the asiago amount to 1/4 cup, eggs and a little milk if needed for volume or consistency.
Assemble and bake.


2)Carrot + chicken pie -- slice 1 cup of carrots and steam, sub for the mushrooms above, substitute 1 cup cooked cubed chicken thigh for the ham, and use dillweed or fresh chopped dill instead of the thyme. Increase the asiago to 1/2 - 3/4 cup.


* if you have fresh rosemary, substitute it for the thyme.


I'm just giving you some ideas, since you have a basic filling worked out already. The amounts are approximate -- you'll figure it out when you're making the pies.

I might use chicken instead of ham as my partner HATES ham.

Thanks!!

Maybe some kielbasa or other (non-Italian) sausage. You could also make it with fully cooked bacon.

The real key is the herbs, though. If you make it with chicken use lots of thyme or fresh rosemary.

Also, the carrot pie idea would work with lightly sauteed thick slices of zucchini.

on edit:
took out the turnip suggestion. That would require a few other changes to make the pie tasty.

cookbook that is from Quebec (?) and has mostly ground pork and potatoes, IIRC. I will wait 'til fall to do that one, I think. Too hot here until late October......