Sausage & Spinach pie

I was looking through the kitchen to figure out what to eat last night and it was pretty grim. A few staples, a humiliatingly complete collection of condiments, some sausage that I got on sale, tortillas and some ready-made pie crusts leftover from Thanksgiving. The pie crusts reminded me of Mr P’s savory pie, so I kinda riffed on what he did. There weren’t enough eggs and cheese to call it a quiche, but they did give it a quichey (as opposed to kitschy) feel and added some moisture and richness.  It got me wondering about other combinations though.  Maybe a german version with bratwurst and sauerkraut is in the future?

Sausage and spinach pie

Ingredients:

meatpie


1 lb sausage (I used Italian)
1 large onion, chopped
5-6 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup ricotta cheese *
1/2 tsp anchovy paste
3 eggs
1 Tbs milk, half & half or cream
1 cup shredded cheese (again, your choice)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs**
1 Tbs herbs (whatever you have on hand)
1/2 tsp pepper

2 roll-out pie crusts (feel free to make a crust from scratch but me?  Not so much)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.

If you bought your sausage in links, take them out of the casings and throw into a big ass skillet over medium heat. Once some of the fat begins to render out of the sausage add the onions and garlic.  If your sausage is unconscionably lean like mine, you may have to add some oil.  Once the sausage is no longer pink, drain the sausage and vegetables and return to the skillet. Add the ricotta cheese to the sausage mixture and stir until melted and combined.  When it begins to look like cat-sick, take it off the heat and let it cool a bit.

Meanwhile, beat two of the eggs and the milk in a big mixing bowl. Toss in the herbs, spinach, pepper, grated cheese and bread crumbs. Stir to combine.  If it’s a little bit dry, add a bit more milk.  Pour in the sausage mixture and fold it all together, making sure that everything’s mixed well.

place one pie crust in the bottom of a deep pie pan and pour in the filling, spreading it out evenly. Roll out the top crust and crimp together. Beat the remaining egg and brush on the top crust, then toss into the oven. Bake for 45-minutes to an hour, covering the edges of hte crust with foil to prevent them from burning.

Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

* I thought this would be needed to help bind the ingredients together along with the eggs and breadcrumbs.  You could probably accomplish the same thing by omitting the ricotta and adding another egg and more shredded cheese.
** or, if you’re like me, you can throw a couple slices of stale bread in a bag and crush ‘em.

Presentation details:
Background-my three ring binder of recipes I like
China-Iris on Grey Chinastone by Lenox

Posted by Mike on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 11:54 AM
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