Green Leek Pie and Basic Pie Crust

Here's the Green Leek Pie hubby made last night from our CSA Leeks & Spinach:

This is a greens (any kind) & onions pie with whatever else you want to add.  Full disclosure: pie pictured is Hubby's Vegetarian Version.  I'm not trying to pull a VegNews scandal on you guys, haha :-)

Green Leek Pie 

(Vegan, I also included Hubby's interesting *vegetarian* option if anyone is interested)

This is kinda like Spanakopita in a pie crust. YUM.

One recipe Basic Pie Crust (see below) or enough defrosted Phyllo to use as a pie crust.

Olive oil and/or butter to saute your greens & all your onions

About one cup of cooked onions/alliums: Leeks, Scallions, Vidalia onions, Garlic Scapes, whatever you've got.

We used one huge leek, one scallion, and one vidalia onion.

 Two cups cooked greens: Spinach, Swiss chard, Arugula, Kale, Collards, whatever you get in your CSA box :-). We used our huge bag of spinach for this pie.

 2-3 Cloves of Garlic

3 tsps Zatar seasoning (I used Penzey's brand)

1-2 tsps Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper 

*Filling: About 1.5 cups or 12 ounces of  plant protein: Mashed Beans, Tofu, Silken Tofu, etc.  I also don't see why you couldn't use tempeh or seitan (ground up) if you add some liquid or silken tofu (to suspend it a little bit) too.

1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast 

1/4 cup finely chopped nuts (walnuts are great here)

2 Tablespoons of ground flax + 3 T water or 2 EnerG Egg replacer "eggs"

1/2 to 1 cup vegan cheese (such as Daiya, I like either the cheddar or mozzarella flavored shreds) 

*Hubby's Vegetarian Version: Hubby used a secret combination of eggs & tofu! Blend up some silken tofu up and add it to eggs to increase volume or transition from eggs to tofu (a great trick!).   He says to use about 3 eggs and about 1/2 to 1 brick silken tofu (one brick= about 12 ounces).  Then, add one cup grated cheeses like Parmesan, Gruyere, Cheddar, etc. or use Daiya and don't tell :-)  

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Basic Pie Crust:

From Jacques Pepin.  It's really easy:

For each 1/4 cup flour you use, add 1 T butter and 1 T water.  Salt and/or sugar to taste.

For the above one-crust pie, we used:

 1.5 cups flour

6 T butter (plant-based)

6 T water.

1 tsp salt

1-3 tsps sugar, depending on if you want a little sweetness.

Blend flour, butter, salt and sugar in your food processor until pea-sized lumps start to form.  Add 3T of  water and blend, add 3 T more until dough can stick together and you can form it with your hands into a ball.  Wrap ball in plastic wrap and chill for about an hour.  Then, roll out into a nice crust (between two pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap) and place in your pie pan.

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I love Zatar!  

Method:

Slice and saute onions together over medium heat in olive oil or butter until translucent.  Add about 1 tsp of Zatar seasoning and about 1 tsp salt.  Remove from pan when done and set aside.

Add more oil or butter (about 1-2 T total) and another 2 tsps of Zatar seasoning, also add sliced garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes.  Then add all your greens (spinach, arugula, whateva) and cook down until soft.  You can also add some more salt and pepper here.  When done, remove from pan and allow to cool.

Mix up your plant protein of choice, nutritional yeast, nuts and flax or egg replacer mixture in a food processor until smooth. Turn out into a big bowl.  Add onion saute and greens saute.  Stir well.  Add cheese and stir well again (or reserve some cheese to add on top of pie).  If making Hubby's Vegetarian Version, mix your eggs, tofu and cheese in a bowl, add the greens and onions and mix well.  You can also add chopped sun dried tomatoes, olives, capers, etc. to the pie!

Pour mixture into prepared pie crust and bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until center is just set and crust is lightly browned.  Allow to cool  for at least 15 minutes on a cooling rack before slicing.  

Enjoy!

P.S. I'm off to pick strawberries at the farm now! Be on the lookout for a great strawberry recipe soon!