Easy as pie 6: Belgian Endives Pie with smoked salmon

For those of you who may not be aware: "Witloof Chicory (also called Belgian Endive) denotes the blanched, tight heads produced by forcing (or growing in the darkness) the big mature chicory roots in forcing structures." (http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/vegetables/endive.html).

Some people don't like Belgian Endives (witloof) because of the slightly bitter taste. There are ways of preparing it that make it taste less bitter. I've always loved the taste, even as a small child. Both of my children do, too, luckily (of course that may still change ;-)). 

One day, my 3-year-old daughter asked me to make a vegetable pie with Belgian Endives. One of my favourite ways to eat Witloof is with smoked salmon (instead of the traditional ham) and cheese sauce. So putting smoked salmon and cheese in the pie seemed the way to go. The children and I love this pie (husband is not a big fan of Belgian endives), so we hope you'll like it, too!

Belgian Endives Pie with smoked salmon

• 1 puff pastry pie base (supermarket)
• small bunch of chives, finely chopped
• 5 stumps Belgian endive (witloof), chopped
• 200 g smoked salmon, in small strips
• 60 g grated Parmesan cheese
• 60 g grated (old) Gouda cheese
• 150 g cottage cheese
• 1,5 dl condensed milk, unsweetened
• 1 tbsp flour
• 2 eggs
• a pinch of cayenne pepper and/or nutmeg
• salt and pepper

- Fry the chopped endive in a little butter in a pan until they are rather dry. Add some cayenne pepper and/or nutmeg.

- Preheat the oven to 200° C of 180°C for a fan-assisted oven. Beat the eggs and mix them with the cottage cheese, flour and condensed milk.

- Add the chives, parmesan, Belgian Endives and smoked salmon.

- Put the pie base in a (silicone) baking tin, pour in the filling, sprinkle with the grated Gouda cheese and put in the oven for 15 to 20 mins. 

Enjoy!

Easy as pie 5: Vegetarian Pumpkin Pie with spinach, goat's cheese and pecorino

As a child (and even still as an adult) I was never very fond of pumpkin. After my daughter started eating solids at 6 months, I started 'teaching' myself to eat chunks of steamed pumpkin whenever I gave them to her. Now I wonder why I used to replace the pumpkin with zucchini in all of my recipes for years and years ;-). I still don't really like 'sweet' pumpkin recipes, but prefer the ones that have strong contrasting tastes. This recipe is a perfect example of that. I found it in my favourite vegetarian cookbook, Handboek Ecologische Voeding - Velt, and didn't change anything because I thought it was perfect ;-).

Pumpkin Pie with spinach, pecorino & goat's cheese

• 1 puff pastry pie base (supermarket)
• 500 g of (orange) pumpkin
• 40 g spinach (fresh or frozen, if frozen, defrost first)
• 1 onion
• a bunch of spring onions
• 100 g cottage cheese
• 100 g goat's cheese (buche)
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp. or 20 g grated pecorino cheese
• 1 tbsp.olive oil
• a pinch of rosemary
• pepper
• salt

- Clean the vegetables. Chop the onion and the spring onions and cut the pumpkin into small pieces (approx. 1/2 cms).

- Heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil and glaze the onion. Add the pumpkin, a bit of water and a pinch of rosemary and simmer until the pumpkin is soft enough to eat (but not too soft, since you still have to put it in the oven.)

- Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a bowl and mix them with the cottage cheese and 2 tbsp. of the pecorino cheese (so half of the total amount of pecorino). Add small pieces of the goat's cheese and stir well.

- Allow the pumpkin to cool down and add it to the egg mixture once cool enough. Add the defrosted or fresh spinach (chop if necessary). Season to taste with salt and pepper.

- Put the pie base in a baking tin and and pour in the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle the remaining pecorino on top and immediately put the pie in the oven. Bake approx. 30 mins at 200°C (180° C for a fan-assisted oven).

Easy as pie 4: Spinach pie (vegetarian)

I promised I would also post some recipes for vegetable pies with a crust made from scratch instead of a store-bought one. Here's the first one:

Spinach pie

Dough:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 75 g butter
• approx. 2 tbsp cold water

Spinach mixture:

• 1/3 cup cream cheese (I use Philadelphia)
• 2 large eggs
• 125 ml milk
• 1 tbsp pesto
• 1 spring onion, chopped
• 1 tsp horseradish sauce (from a jar)
• 1/2 tsp mustard
• 1/2 cup grated cheese (I tend to use parmesan and/or Gouda)
• 2 to 3 handfuls of finely chopped spinach (either fresh or defrosted, the more you use, the greener the pie)
• salt, pepper and nutmeg

- Put flour, salt and butter in the blender and grind it into crumbs. Then start adding water whilst the machine is still running,  until the dough turns into a ball. Use a quiche pan with removable bottom (approx. 20 cms) and make sure the dough covers the bottom and (part of) the sides as evenly as possible (this is the hardest part, I promise ;-)). Then cover the dough with parchment paper, fill it with rice or baking beans and put it in the oven for 12-15 mins at 200°C (or 180° for a fan-assisted oven).

- In the mean time, prepare the filling. Mix the cream cheese, eggs and milk. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend them until you get a smooth, green cream. Pour this into the baked crust and put it back in the oven for approx. 30 mins at 180 °C (or 160°C for a fan-assisted oven), until the top becomes slightly brown (as you can see in the picture above). Serves 4.

You can also make 2 spinach pies and put one in the freezer. 

Omelette with champignons & grilled bell pepper

This omelette is a bit like a frittata (Italian omelette).  My 3-year-old daughter loves mushrooms, so she asked for a champignon omelette. This one does take up a bit more time since you have to grill the bell pepper, and removing the seeds and skin afterwards is a bit of a messy job. But it's worth it, since grilled bell pepper has a fantastic taste.

Omelette with champignons & grilled red bell pepper

Serves 4

• 250 g champignons, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 garlic cloves
• handful of grated parmesan
• 4 eggs
• pepper
• (salt)

- Wash a red bell pepper and put it underneath the hot grill in your oven. When the skin turns black, turn it (obviously you need oven mitts) and keep doing this until (almost) the entire skin has turned black. Then put it in a plastic bowl and put on the lid, so it can 'steam' inside the bowl. Once it has cooled down, take it out of the bowl and remove the seeds and skin.

- Preheat the oven to 180°C or 160°C for a fan-assisted oven.

- Heat the olive oil and fry the garlic briefly then add the sliced champignons. Season to taste with pepper and/or salt. Don't fry them too long, as you still have to put them in the oven.

- Cut the fried bell pepper into strips.

- Beat the eggs with salt and/or pepper in a bowl, and add the champignons, grilled pepper and a handful of grated parmesan. Stir well.

- Grease a (silicone) pie pan with a little olive oil and pour in the mixture. Put it in the oven for 20 - 30 mins.

This can be served with rice, pasta, potatoes,... and also eaten cold on a picnic or day trip.

(Dutch recipe available on demand)

This is not a cauliflower soufflé

Usually when I have cauliflower left over I make soup with it, but this time I decided to try something different. So I made this with some cauliflower that had already been cooked the day before, but of course you could use a fresh one and cook it or steam it first.

It doesn't look like a cauliflower soufflé, even though cauliflower is the main ingredient:

And it's not a 'real' soufflé (since it's not necessary to separate yolks from egg whites in this case), but it's very similar (and easier to prepare). I served this with cherry tomatoes, jacket potatoes and hamburgers, but there are lots of other options.

'Fake' cauliflower soufflé

• 400 g cauliflower (cooked or steamed)
• 3 tbsp milk (or soy milk, or cream if you prefer)
• 4 tbsp chopped chives
• 2 eggs
• pepper
• (salt)
• oil (I used rapeseed oil)

First put the cauliflower in the blender and blend it, then add all of the other ingredients except for the oil and blend it again. If you don't want the 'puree' to turn green you could leave out the chives, too, and just stir them in with a spoon.

Preheat the oven to 180°C or 160° for a fan-assisted oven. Grease 4 soufflé cups with a little (rapeseed) oil. Put the cauliflower 'puree' into the cups with a spoon. Put them in the oven for approx. 20 mins.

My children (17 months and 3 years old) both loved this, and of course you could prepare this with other vegetables (broccoli, spinach, carrots, ...), too...

(Dutch recipe available on demand)

Easy as pie II: Vegetarian broccoli, champignon & cherry tomato pie

I made this vegetable pie on a lazy sunday, so I used dough from the supermarket instead of making it myself. This time I used fresh shortcrust pastry. You could use puff pastry as well, but I think shortcrust is nicer for this combination of vegetables. I haven't forgotten my promise to post some recipes with dough made from scratch, I definitely will do that at some point!

Broccoli, Champignons & Cherry Tomato Pie:

• 1 shortcrust pastry pie base (from the supermarket)
• 300 g broccoli florets
• 250 g champignons (quartered)
• a handful of cherry tomatoes (the sweetest you can find)
• 2 handfuls of  grated cheese (I used a mixture of parmesan, rigatello & mozzarella)
• 150 g cottage cheese
• 1,5 dl condensed milk (unsweetened)
• 1 tbsp wheat flour
• 2 eggs
• olive oil
• a pinch of thyme
• tsp of marjoram
• (salt) & pepper

- Briefly steam or cook the broccoli (4 or 5 mins). It should still be crunchy, as you still have to cook it in the oven.

- Fry the champignons in olive oil. Again, don't fry them too long as they still have to spend 20 mins in the oven. Season with thyme, marjoram and salt and pepper to taste.

- Preheat the oven to 200°C (or 180°C for a fan assisted oven). Beat the 2 eggs and mix them with the cottage cheese, the flour and the condensed milk.

- Put the pie base in a quiche or pie pan (I tend to use a regular pie pan, which means I have to 'fold' the dough a bit at the sides.)

- Now put the broccoli on top of the pie base. You can just throw it in and spread it out a bit, or you can create nice circles with it, that's what I do ;-). Then add the champignons and decorate with the cherry tomatoes.

- Sprinkle with the grated cheese.

- Pour the egg 'mixture' on top of the vegetables and put it in the oven for 15 - 20 mins.

(Dutch recipe available on demand)

Lazy Sunday Food: Zucchini and Bacon Omelette

Omelette, tortilla or frittata is so easy to make, and there are so many different combinations of vegetables and/or meat/fish you can use. I bake my omelettes in the oven, as that, according to me, is quickest and gives the nicest results.

I made this one with lots of zucchini and bacon. Normally I tend to use 4 eggs (sometimes even less), but in this case I think I used 5 because I feared 4 wouldn't be enough to hold the omelette together.

Zucchini and bacon omelette:

• 100 g bacon, slices or lardons
• 2 zucchini (or approx 400 g, as sizes can vary a lot)
• 1 onion
• 5 (large) eggs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp tarragon
• (salt)
• pepper

- Preheat the oven to 180°C or 160°C for a fan-assisted oven.
- Either slice the zucchini and then cut the slices in half, or dice it, if you prefer.
- Chop the onion.
- Heat the olive oil and fry the bacon briefly or until it's brown, according to your taste.
- Add the onions and once they are glazed, stir in the zucchini and fry for approx. 5 mins.
- Beat the eggs with the tarragon, salt and/or pepper in a bowl, and add the bacon, zucchini and onion. Stir well.
- Grease a (silicone) pie pan with a little olive oil and pour in the mixture. Put it in the oven for 20 - 30 mins.

This can be served with rice, pasta, potatoes,... and also eaten cold on a picnic or day trip.

(Dutch recipe available on demand)

Easy as pie (with broccoli, champignons & bacon)

Let's start with something nice and easy. When I posted this picture on Facebook, I received a lot of messages asking me for the recipe:

Little Elf's 'Special Request Pie': My daughter (3 years old) wanted a pie with broccoli and champignons in it, so I made one for lunch during a weekend and added some bacon. I bought the dough for this one at the supermarket, though it's probably healthier  to make it from scratch, but I don't have the patience to make my own puff pastry ;-). I will be posting some recipes for other vegetable pies with home-made crusts at some point, I promise!

Broccoli, Champignon & Bacon Pie:

• 1 puff pastry pie base (from the supermarket)
• 450 g broccoli florets
• 250 g champignons (quartered)
• 150 g bacon lardons
• 100 g grated gruyere cheese
• 150 g cottage cheese
• 1,5 dl condensed milk (unsweetened)
• 1 tbsp wheat flour
• 2 eggs
• olive oil
• (1 clove of garlic)
• (salt) & pepper

- Briefly steam or boil the broccoli (4 or 5 mins). It should still be crunchy, as you still have to cook it in the oven.
- Fry the bacon lardons in a pan. I prefer them quite well done, but that's a matter of taste (and it's actually not that healthy, I know ;-)).
- Add some olive oil (and some garlic if you like it) and the champignons. Again, don't fry them too long as they still have to spend 20 mins in the oven. Season to taste.

- Preheat the oven to 200°C (or 180°C for a fan assisted oven). Beat the 2 eggs and mix them with the cottage cheese, the flour and the condensed milk, then add the champignons and lardons and stir well.
- Put the pie base in a quiche or pie pan (I tend to use a regular pie pan, which means I have to 'fold' the dough a bit at the sides.)
- Now put the broccoli on top of the pie base. You can just throw it in and spread it out a bit, or you can create nice circles with it, that's what I do ;-).
- Pour the champignon 'mixture' on top of the broccoli, sprinkle it with gruyere cheese and put it in the oven for 15 - 20 mins.

Enjoy!

(If anyone wants the Dutch translation of this recipe, send me a message and I will make sure you get it.)