Cheese and Pears

Savory Pie With Broccoli Zucchini and Potatoes

Posted on Jan 10, 2010 11:22:19 AM

After surviving Christmas with the family and Year End at the Company, Cheese and Pears is back, trying to cope with a fall in the number of visits to the site, that is only second to the fall of employment rate over here in Ireland (bad joke, I know). Ice has taken possession of the Country and this afternoon it will snow again, hopefully for the last time. Luckily enough I can work from home and save myself a 7 km journey at 5 km per hour.

Let’s go back in the kitchen with this great savory pie, “torta salata” in Italian, where salata means salted (as opposed to sweet of course). Now, don’t ask me the difference between a torta salata and a quiche lorraine, maybe there is some real foodie reading this (as opposed to a fake one like me) able to explain that to me. Actually I’m not going to pass this off as authentic Italian but hey, my mom makes it, my sister makes it, and I make it, and that’s enough to make it Italian food.

The pastry for the quiche is a shortcrust pastry but without sugar. For 4 people you will need:

• 200g (7oz) plain flour
• a pinch of salt
• 100g (3½oz) chilled butter, diced
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• a pinch of salt
• a tbsp of cold milk just in case

(Confession, in case I haven’t said that before: I don’t know if someone out there enjoys making shortcrust pastry, but I don’t)

Put the flour in a bowl, add a pinch of salt, make a hole in the middle and put the butter cubes in it. Using your fingertips, rub flour and butter together until they are like breadcrumbs. Add the beaten egg and work the dough just enough to put the ingredients together. If the dough is too dry, add just ½ tbsp of cold milk at the time. As soon as you have a ball that can hold together, cover it with clingfilm and stick it in the fridge, but before doing that, flatten it with the palm of your hand, as it will be easier to roll it afterwards. Leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes or one hour until firm.

In the meantime start preparing the filling. You will need:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 broccoli, chopped in small pieces
• 3-4 medium potatoes, finely diced
• 1 zucchini, finely diced
• 1 medium egg
• 50g (1½oz) grated parmesan
• a handful of breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil and the garlic in a frying pan, add the diced vegetables and cook them for about 15 minutes until they start to soften. Pour them in a bowl and let them cool, then add the egg, Parmesan, salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven at 180°C (356°F). Grease a 22cm (9inch) cake tin with butter and dust with flour. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll the shortcrust pastry with a rolling pin. This is the most delicate part (for me, at least), because the pastry crumbles very easily, so be gentle. I usually roll the pastry on a sheet of baking paper, keeping the shape as round as possible, until it is a little larger then the tin, then transfer it, and press it down gently with the fingertips to make it stick to the bottom and the side of the baking tin.

Add the vegetable mix, sprinkle the breadcurmbs and bake it in the oven for about 40 minutes, until the top is golden.

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