A Pie Sort of Day

Today I was back to baking in the kitchen.  Was feeling the "pie" mood, so I made Spaghetti Pie for dinner and a Blueberry Pie for dessert.  I think we have some winners.

First off, Blueberry Pie - it needs time to cool, so it takes priority.  Jarod has brought up pies quite frequently over the past few weeks, so I thought I would surprise him after a long day grading papers, with a home baked, old fashioned pie! 

The recipe for the pate brisee (pie crust) was surprisingly easy with the help of a food processor. 

Pate Brisee (Short Crust Pastry)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cps flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbs sugar

1 cp chilled (frozen) butter, cubed

1/4 cp - 1/2 cp ice water

Directions: Spoon dry ingredients into food processor, pulsing a few times to mix ingredients.  Add butter, pulse until dough resembles crumbles.  Add water, a tablespoon at a time until dough stays together when pinched. Do not over process (30 sec. max)  Divide dough.  Refrigerate to relax gluten and chill butter.  Roll out into 12'' circle. (To prevent sticking, roll from center out to edge, turning quarter of a turn each time).  Place in 9'' pie pan.  Return to fridge.  Take second dough, roll out into 12'' circle.  Cut out stars.  Place stars on wax paper on cookie sheet.  Place in fridge.  

Blueberry Filling

Ingredients:

4 cps blueberries

1/2 cp white sugar

2 tbs cornstarch

2 tbs lemon juice

1 tbs lemon zest

Directions: Mix sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and zest.  Add blueberries.  Stir until berries are covered with sugar mixture.  Pour mixture into bottom pie shell.  Cover with stars.

Egg Wash

Ingredients:

1 egg yolk

1 tbs cream

Directions: Beat yolk and cream together.  Use pastry brush to paint over stars and edge of crust.   Place pie in 400 degree oven on rack on the bottom third of oven.  Bake 20 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake additional 45 minutes or until juice is bubbling and thick and crust is golden brown.  Cool several hours.

Now that the pie was cooling and my oven was freed up, I started my entree, Spaghetti Pie, which should have also been in a pie plate/pan... however, I thought I owned more than one.  So, next best thing - Pyrex!

Spaghetti Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef 
• 1/2 cp chopped onion
• 1/4 cp chopped green pepper
• 1 cp canned diced tomatoes, undrained *
• 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste 
• 1 tsp oregano *
• 3/4 tsp salt *
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder *
• 1/4 tsp pepper *
• 6 ounces spaghetti, cooked and drained
• 1 tbs butter
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cp Parmesan cheese
• 1 cp cottage cheese
• 1/2 cp mozzarella cheese
• * items can be omitted and replaced with about 2 cps jar spaghetti sauce if need be

Directions:

Cook beef, onion and green pepper until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, salt, garlic powder, and pepper (or spaghetti sauce); set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the spaghetti, butter, egg whites and Parmesan cheese. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9-in. deep-dish pie plate. Top with layer of cottage cheese and beef mixture.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and filling is heated through. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting. 

Yield: 6 servings.

It was a busy day in the kitchen, and I did not make it through unscathed.  There was one injury and one fire.  However, all is well.  My fingernail was sliced open by the potato peeler while I was digging for the pastry brush. 

 

And then, I managed to lay the wooden spatula in the fire on the front range of the oven.  After seeing 5 in flames and smelling something burning, did I then think to move the spatula.  But, phew, I made it.. and we had a pretty fantastic meal!