Tomato Pie, No. 2

The tomato pie I made a few weeks ago was so good, I decided to make a second one.  However, this time, I was determined to avoid the soggy crust.  In order to accomplish this, I added a layer of …

Farmer’s Market Finds: Sour Cream Blueberry Pie

Those blueberries are still at the Farmer’s Market this weekend.  I know so, because  I still have plenty of berries to pick from my late-ripening bushes.  I never would have considered blueberry picking strenuous exercise, but, sometimes, the heat really gets …

Kale “No-Spinach” Pie

Well, the kale is still growing in my neighbor’s garden!! The little bit that is left is getting overrun by butternut squash, honeydew squash, and soon, spaghetti squash.     But, I was able to get a grocery bag full …

Three-Grain Butter Pie Pastry

  One of my all-time favorite pastry doughs!  This is from a master pie maker, better known for his pie making skills.  Ken Haedrich has written numerous articles and cookbooks.  My favorites are the savory baking recipes, the soup and …

Fudge Pie

      Caution! This is a very addictive treat!!     By the time I was 10 years old, I was baking something almost everyday when I got home from school.   This easy, simple, and oh so very rich …

Farmer’s Market Find: Red Russian Kale and Spinach Pie

 

Red Russian Kale

 

A beautiful kale.  At first I thought it was arugula, but they said, no, it’s kale.  Throughout all the different vendors last saturday, there were about 5 different types of kale available.  This was the one I bought.

It had a little peppery bite, like arugula.

For $2.00, you can buy one bunch of kale.   Great deal.  When I got home and washed the kale, I was pretty surprised at how much kale was actually rubber banded together; about 2 to 3 times the amount of what you would get in the store.

I have a lot of soups in the freezer, so I was looking for something else to do with the kale, and thought about Spanakopita.  I haven’t made these in years,  but there are a real treat, and one of my husbands favorite.

A delicious Mediterranean treat.

I followed a traditional spanakopita recipe.  The only hitch was that when I pulled the box of filo dough out of the freezer to thaw, it wasn’t filo, but puff pastry.  I went ahead and went with it, how bad could it be?  Also, it saved me the stress of working with the filo dough.

I used 3 different types of cheese here:  a pecorino pepato, a very mild sheep’s milk feta, and the every rich fontina.

You will need:

• 4 cups well washed, drained, and coarsely chopped kale
• 1 10-ounce box frozen, chopped spinach (or one large  box fresh)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 medium onion, minced
• 6 green onions (or 1 or 2 farmer market green onions)
• 4 ounces feta, crumbled
• 1 cup other cheeses, grated
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 egg
• juice of half a lemon
• egg wash- 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water, well beaten

Saute minced white onion in oil and butter in skillet.  When translucent, add green onions.  Add kale and spinach, and stir from bottom up till cooked down.  Do not overcook the spinach.  Remove from heat and let cool.

Add cheeses, nutmet, one egg, and lemon juice, and mix well.

Cut dough in approximately 3 to 4 inch squares.  Place a few tablespoons filling in the center.  Brush edges with egg wash, and seal.  Follow directions on pastry package for baking.  I baked mine at 375 in a convection oven for about 15 minutes.

I tried different shapes, and they all worked fine.  On some, I had to use a fork to seal the edges because I had put too much egg wash.

Also, these freeze well unbaked.  Freeze on wax paper or parchment lined cookie sheets, then transfer to a container, using the paper to separate the layers.