Pinja Challenge: Cherry Tomato Pie

Cherry (tomato) pie in a homemade (sharp cheddar) crust. 

Maybe I lean a little too heavily on Pinterest for inspiration, but so far it has not led me astray in the kitchen. Thank you, Claire, for coining the term "Pinja." Allow me to explain. Pinja (n): A ninja-like, resourceful wizard who successfully concocts things pinned on Pinterest. Claire's a quilting and crafting Pinja. I'm having fun honing my Pinja skills in the kitchen.

Halved cherry tomatoes, garden oregano, and fresh onions.

Late last week, I happened upon this lovely pie, via Pinterest, over at Not Without Salt. Cherry tomatoes sat on my kitchen counter, begging to be used up in a recipe—so happening upon one that called for roasting cherry tomatoes? This was just the thing. And on a sharp cheddar crust (one that required no rolling and just a handful of ingredients, might I add?)... Heaven. 

The finished product.

Alongside it we had a raw zucchini salad, dressed ever so lightly with avocado, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add a glass of malbec rose, and oh my... A wonderful dinner to celebrate the season's best flavors!

Simple raw zucchini salad; slice zucchini paper-thin with a mandoline, and dress with EVOO, S&P.

Oregano beginning to bud. We didn't eat these, but aren't they pretty?

What Pinja skills have you been working on? Do tell!

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Butternut Squash Pie With Pecan Shortbread Crust

The finished product, complete with pecan shortbread crust.

Last weekend, I brought home another 10 pounds or so of butternut squash--quickly becoming a favorite of mine. It's packed full of nutrients and is extremely versatile in the kitchen, like many squash are.

My mom mentioned that I could make pie with it, which of course got me wild about the idea. After scouring recipes and reading all manner of ways to prepare squash for pies, make nut crusts, and find just the right combination of it all to turn it into something spectacular.... It happened.

Though my recipe is based on a combination of several recipes, I took plenty of twists and turns to make this my very own. Some folks were skeptical of another squash pie, but in fact, the flavor is somewhat similar to pumpkin pie, but the texture is a little bit different. Making the puree from fresh squash adds to the delight of both baking and eating this pie.

I made this pie for my cousin's graduation party (yes, I take experimental desserts to parties and then ask everyone to try them.) One woman who tasted the pie knew right away that I'd baked the squash as opposed to steaming it, which was amazing to me because I hemmed and hawed about which to do. And this woman could tell! She said she preferred the texture of baked squash in pie. So, I'd recommend you do the same if you make this. And I highly recommend that you do make this, perhaps as a refreshing new take on Thanksgiving dessert...

The crust taking shape.

Spiced Butternut Squash Pie with Pecan Shortbread Crust

For the crust:

1 cup AP flour

1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

8 tbls butter, softened

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the dry ingredients until pecans are thoroughly chopped, about 15 seconds. Add butter and vanilla, and process until butter is incorporated. Pour the mixture into a 9" springform pan and press until the entire base of the pan is covered, making sure to go about 1/2" up the sides of the pan. Chill the crust in the fridge for 30 minutes or in the freezer for 15. Remove from fridge or freezer and bake until golden, 15-20 minutes. Remove the crust and let cool for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the filling...

For the pie filling:

2 medium butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds total)

3 eggs

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup half and half

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 400. Rinse the squash and halve them lengthwise. Clean out the seeds with a spoon (you can reserve these to eat later, like pumpkin seeds). Place skin side down on a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes, or until squash is very tender. Remove from the oven, and carefully remove the squash from the skin using a spoon. You want about 2 cups of cooked squash.

Lower heat to 350.

Let squash cool, then puree squash in a food processor until very smooth, adding a tablespoon or two of water if needed. Add the eggs one at a time, processing for one or two seconds each. Then add in the half and half and spices, and process for another 10 seconds or so.

Carefully pour filling into the prebaked crust. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, or until pie is set.

Serve alone, or better yet... topped with fresh whipped cream.

** If you do not have a food processor, you can accomplish great things with a stand or hand-held mixer. For the crust, just chop the pecans very finely and incorporate the butter with a mixer. For the filling, you can manually press the baked squash through a ricer and then whisk in the other ingredients. Now you have no excuses not to make this pie!

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Thanksgiving Pies

So this is a wee bit out of date, no? But better late than never. I have been cooking up a storm lately and enjoying every minute of it. I made two pies for Thanksgiving; one for Ryan's family (tried and true apple) and one for my family (never-before-tried Caramel Pumpkin Tart). Both turned out pretty swell, and it was actually a lot of fun to branch out from my standard apple pie and try something new. Of course, this was a marathon cooking adventure; in the span of 2 days, I made a rum cake (another new recipe for me, and my brother gave me tips for the sauce--just rum and sugar!) for Ryan's b-day, which he took to work...and then beginning at 5 a.m. the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I began readying the crusts and peeling apples. I got home early from work that day and thankfully had 3 hours in the kitchen before Ryan's birthday dinner. Here's what the kitchen looked like....


And by God's grace alone, I was able to totally clean that kitchen by the time Ryan got home! It was like a birthday present for him. :) So here are the recipes...

My Standard Better-than-Grandma's-but-don't-tell-her Apple Pie (thanks Pastor Craig)

Pie crust (a top and a bottom!)
* If you have a reliable recipe, use it. I'm working up a new recipe myself, but here is a great place to start...

Apple filling:
5 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chunked
1-2 tbls lime juice (to taste)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon (to taste)
pinch of nutmeg
1 tbls flour
2 tbls melted butter

* I'd recommend blind-baking the pie crust. I am still perfecting this task, but here are some tips...

Peel, core, and chop the apples. Put them in a large bowl, and spritz on lime juice as you go. The lime juice adds a tart flavor, but also keeps the apples from turning brown. Whisk together the dry ingredients and pour over the apples. Stir to coat each one. I'd recommend tasting at least four or five bites of apple to make sure you've got 'em all covered. :)

For the other pie, I googled to my heart's content and came up with this recipe from Epicurious: it's a Caramel Pumpkin Pie. Now, this sounds heavenly--but it had two hurdles for me. One, I've never made a pumpkin pie before. Two, I've never made caramel before. And so this one was my great triumph and EVERY bite of it was eaten.

Here's what I learned. First of all, I followed this recipe almost exactly as it said--I didn't pay too much attention to the comments, except for when folks warned of the caramel making. They said it took about 10 minutes, and to watch the sugar and water boiling like a HAWK because it turns in a second. This is 100% true. My timer said 9:58 and the pot still looked like this:


And at 10:00, it looked like this:

Forgive the crummy picture, but I did not want to risk burning the caramel for a killer shot. :) I quickly poured in the cream and the most beautiful thing happened. Caramel + heavy cream apparently = heaven on the stove.

I did not have (nor did I want to purchase) a 2" deep tart pan with a removable bottom, so I improvised and used a springform pan. This worked well except in a couple of places, the pie crust did not remain upright. In any case, everything worked out and this was one of the best pies I've ever made. (So proud. So very proud.)

Stay tuned for more updates, including the office cookie swap and a week of home-cooked meals (with leftovers!).

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