Wednesday, August 11, 2010

cook, eat, repeat




I'm eventually posting a recipe today. Spencer mocked my dreams of a zucchini pie - and then literally ate his words as he gobbled bite after bite. I'll preface this by stating: I am NOT a cook. but i love cooking. and praise.

I didn't grow up "surrounded by great cooks". My cooks were good, but lacked that passion and joy for cooking that warrants "greatness". So I grew up making mac n' cheese, microwaved butter balls and pb & j sammies. When I first moved into my own apartment i was poor and busy spending what money I did have on drinking and dancing. So my go-to-recipes included jim beam and ginger ales and cheese steak subs to-go (oh metabolism, i miss you so much!)

The time came when Spencer and I moved in together and the domestic bug started biting. We also lived with his sister, who was a very good cook. Rachael Ray was my first real teacher. Her recipes weren't complicated and didn't require foreign techniques or ingredients. And she "eyeballed" it, which is the 2nd reason I don't measure things while cooking. (the first being - why dirty up something else to clean?) As i grew as a home cook, my appreciation for delicious food developed as well. Now, I'll eat anything and I find a simple joy in whipping up something awesome for my friends and family.

This recipe is a combination of 3 recipes I found here, there and everywhere.

savory summer squash pie

1 frozen pie crust (or make your own if you are insane and haven't ever seen an episode of "semi homemade")
2-3 good sized zucchini
1 cup(ish) ricotta cheese
1 cup(ish) shredded cheese (I used mozz, but i imagine a combo of cheeses would be cool - parm, Gruyere - get crazy - just keep it at a cup)
Half of a sweet onion all chopped up (or maybe a shallot? oh! or some scallion?!)
1 egg
some Olive oil
some garlic
parsley

Get your oven ready at 400 F. toss some garlic into that olive oil and let it sit and get all gorgeous. Slice that zucchini, toss some salt on it and let it soak up all that sodiYum while you mix the cheese.

mix the ricotta, egg, onion, most of the cheese and some parsley together. Take the remainder of the shredded cheese and press it into the bottom of the pie crust. YUM.

toss the garlic oil with the zucchini slices.

then layer! ricotta mix first, then zucchini slices, then ricotta, then zucchini. i sprinkled some salt & pepper over each zucchini layer and topped the whole kitten kaboodle with some more cheese. Cover that bad boy with some foil and get to cookin'

30 minutes later take the foil off until it browns.

Now wait for it. Let her sit for a few minutes to set or you'll have a delicious, but messy pie slice on your hands!

i wish i had made 2 so i could have some leftovers for lunch today!

1 comment:

  1. OOOOh! Yummy! I hardly ever think about making quiches. I think it's because I'm not going at the waiting part.

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