Thursday, May 1, 2008
Very few dishes are as satisfying to make and eat as a properly made pie, be it pizza, calzone, turnover or empanada. They are very versatile and take on almost any filling, with or without meat. The main rule is to make sure the filling is not too wet, so that the dough would not get soggy. This vegetable pie here is based on a recipe from Paula Wolfert’s “Mediterranean Grains and Greens” for a pie filled with greens, winter squash and a bit of rice and cheese.
I loved the dough for that recipe, it is made with olive oil and has no leavening. It tastes great, does not get soggy, is easy to work with and sturdy enough for most filings. Here I filled it with a mixture of sautéed eggplant, yellow summer squash, onions, farmer’s cheese, a small handful of Arborio rice and an egg to hold it together. I flavored the filling with pomegranate molasses and Aleppo pepper to give a bit of a middle eastern flavor. This was delicious accompanied by a salad from the garden, some olives and pickled pearl onions. It tastes great the day after and the one after that too.
