Let's Eat Pie

Today is March 14th.  You know what that is, right?  3.14!  Yep, pi which means it is Pi Day.  And Pi Day means you eat pie.  Makes sense?

I got together with My son and his wife to celebrate a pre-Pi-Day Pi-Day since I knew I would be busy on the actual day.  We all worked together to make a savoury pie, aka a quiche, and a sweet apple pie for dessert.  They worked out so well and tasted fantastic.

My daughter-in-law is the master of the crust so she worked her charms for all the pies and even wove a fancy lattice crust for the apple pie.  My son and I chopped and mixed and cooked.  Good times!

The quiche was the best I have ever had.  It was loaded with veggies which is my favourite kind.  You could add different veggies than the ones we used if you prefer, like mushrooms or zucchini, as long as you keep the proportions approximately the same.

Here is the recipe for the vegetable quiche we used (makes two quiches).

Ingredients:
2 cups broccoli florets, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, diced
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 red bell pepper,diced
1 tbsp olive oil
8 eggs
2 cups low fat milk
2/3 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or white flour or brown rice flour)

Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Prepare crust for two 9-inch pie pans or spray pans with cooking oil if making crustless quiches.
2.  In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat and cook the onion for about 3 minutes.  Then add the broccoli and red peppers and cook for about 5 more minutes until just tender.  Stir in the spinach and transfer the vegetables to the prepared pans.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, cheeses, salt, pepper, and oregano.  Whisk in the flour and pour evenly over the vegetables.
4.  Bake until set, about 45 minutes.  Cool quiche about 10 minutes before serving.

Apple pie is always a favourite so that is what we had for dessert, after our quiche ... and a walk.

Ingredients for one pie:
7 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored,and thinly sliced (about 7 cups in total)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
pie crusts for top and bottom of a 9-inch pie pan

Method:
1.  Preheat the oven to 350F.   Prepare the dough for the pie pan.
2.  In a large bowl, combine the apple and all the other ingredients, except the butter.  Mound the apple mixture in the prepared pan making the centre higher than the sides.  Dot the top evenly with pieces of butter.  Cover the top with a crust, press the top and bottom crusts together to seal, trim the excess dough, and cut vents.
3.  Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour or until the top crust is golden brown and the apples feel tender when pierced with a knife.  Let the pie rest for 20 minutes before serving.

There is nothing like an excuse to eat pie.  I'm totally on-board any celebration this delicious.  Do you celebrate Pi Day?  It is a new-to-me-tradition, but one that I will be repeating.