I have to share the little dish we had for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception along with our pork roast and yams.
The recipe I use for pie crust (pate brisee from Gourmet) always leaves me with a little bit of crust left over. Usually from doubling the recipe I can make a two-crust pie and another with only a bottom crust, using the leftovers. But if, as on Thanksgiving, I've made four recipes yielding two two-crust pies (apple and strawberry-rhubarb) and one largish one-crust pie (squash), then I have just enough left over for…not much!
I could make “cook's treat” — which is that fabulous tidbit produced by rolling out the leftover dough and sprinkling it with cinnamon sugar, to be consumed standing by the stove; piping, indeed, tongue-searingly, hot, a few choice pieces vouchsafed to a begging child. Or the dough could sit in the fridge until the convergence of inspiration and acquisition of a truly small pie-pan occurs. At the exact moment of a feast day dinner!
This pan is probably one you, with your high standards, would not really use. It's a little chipped. It came in this enamel bucket:This I purchased for very little at my favorite antique (read, junk) shop to use as an ash can. Don't you love my bucket? The other thing in that bucket was that enamel covered pan (on the left) I use to raise my dough. What a find. Three enameled containers at once! Oh happy day! Anyway, this pie plate is small. That fork is covering (not intentionally — I was trying to give you scale) a little chip in the enamel. But who cares about chips when you're talking about the right size for your piece of pie dough! Who cares?
So here it is.
The yummiest morsel you will eat in a while, requiring only that you have just the right sorts of leftovers and lurking fungus (in the forms of mushrooms and blue cheese) in the depths of your storehouses. Here is my recipe:
Spinach, mushroom, and blue cheese tart
Enough pie crust for a small (8″) pie.
1 cup of the spinach which you have previously cooked with lemon, garlic, and onion, and served enough times so that you had better disguise it but good.
5 large mushrooms, sliced and sautéed in olive oil. The store I shop at has mushrooms in all sorts of packages, but the cheapest best ones are the loose large stuffing ones. I always grab a few. Mushrooms make everything better, no matter what Bridget says.
1/2 cup blue cheese. This cheese was really getting to the point of no return.
Bread crumbs. You don't buy bread crumbs, do you? Just throw your bread heels into the food processor and freeze the crumbs until you need them. Honestly, you can just wipe your food processor out when you are done.
Roll out dough. Sprinkle with crumbled blue cheese and cover cheese with a layer of fresh breadcrumbs (these will absorb the liquid given off by the vegetables).
Spread spinach on breadcrumbs. Spread mushroom pieces on spinach.
Bake for ½ hour at 350*
Pippajo says
Oh I love enamel pails, pans and pots. I have a small, fledgling collection consisting of a pitcher and basin, rectangular pan much like yours (I store my clothespins in it in the laundry room), 2 small beige pitchers I fill with flowers in the spring, and a huge, deep, round red-rimmed basin my dad gave me that I have no idea what to do with. It sits on a little table in my kitchen and is filled with pine cones and holly at the moment. I have used it to store onions and miscellaneous Halloween decorations but have not yet settled on a good "permanent" use for it. Sigh. I do love your enamel pail!Sadly, I do not like mushrooms or spinach. I know, I have plebian tastes. And I haven't been intrepid enough to make my own pie crust for years, preferring to chicken out and use the Pilsbury premade ones and rolling them nice and thin (shhhhh, don't tell).But, as usual, the ideas in your post intrigue me…maybe it's time to tackle the homemade pie crust this Christmas?I also do not make my own breadcrumbs on a regular basis, but I DO save my bread heels in the freezer so I can always make bread pudding at a moment's notice. I think that moment may be upon us…!
Anne R Triolo says
I like the Pilsbury pie crusts better than almost any homemade crust i have ever had, therefore I only use them and have never even attempted to use my own. I feel quite daring saying this here…hehehe.That tart did look lovely!
Suki says
Oh my goodness, that looks so delicious. Can we please have it when I come home?
Decadent Housewife says
Oh my, oh my. This looks so good. Will definitely have a go with this…maybe for New Years. It was a blue cheese dressing that snared my GG…at least, I think it was. 🙂
the Lawler family st says
Mrs. Lawler!I feel like I should inform you that I will be following your blog religiously at 3am for the rest of my forseeable future. Allow me to introduce myself, and explain my alias. I am at school with Deirdre, indeed, thanks to her I even made an appearance on your blog at Halloween. We are RAs together (I'm in the same building as Luigi), and last year were neighbors, and after literally hours and hours of discussing home and family, I have come to the conclusion that I cannot wait to meet your entire family, should life ever be so good. Forgive my forwardness- I just wanted to explain my alias. I'm not actually that creepy, I promise, I just know that Deirdre will get a huge kick out of it. I met Sukie and Rosie last year, when Deirdre dragged me out of my covers while I studying for finals to go waltzing at Glen Echo. Anyway, so now I have made my presence know officially, I will feel less creepy reading your posts voraciously! That pie looks so good! It is truly cruel that your food post would coincide with the decline of the cafeteria as it winds down for break!
Rosie says
Dear Stalker L,Welcome! We're very glad to have you read our blog – though we wish you'd get to bed before 3am!My mom specifically asked me to tell you that she can't respond to your comment because a giant ice storm took out the power at our house. No kidding! They don't expect to get it back for several days, though I suppose it's possible they could sooner than that. In any case, blogging is out for her for now!Good luck with exams!
Leila says
Dear LFS:GO TO BED :)MWAH!We are going to show you only pictures of fallen trees, scared bunnies, and cold rooms to shake you out of this obsession of yours. Merry Christmas!