Bento eleventy-one! (<-huge geek)
Strudel made from bok choy and feta, green salad with pickled grilled bell pepper, pumpkin pie.
Spinach and Swiss chard strudels are simple, but lovely. I tried it with bok choy (chinese cabbage) this time, which gave the whole thing a very nice, firm texture.
How:
Wash one medium-big head of bok choy and cut the leaves into strips (I didn’t bother with the stalks but stopped cutting once I had chopped away all the green).
In a wide pan, sauté some leek in olive oil (garlic not mandatory but recommended). Throw in the bok choy/spinach/chard/whichever leaf pleases you and fry it a little until it starts to wilt. Add some salt and pepper (and herbs if you wish) to taste. Take the pan off the heat, put on a lid and let the leaf steam itself for a while.
Whisk 2-3 eggs (I used the eggwhite I had left over from the pie plus two more eggs) and crumbled Feta (add more herbs if you feel like more whoosh) in a bowl. Pour over the leaves and mix well, but take care not to cook the egg.
Spread out a stack of 2-3 leaves of phyllo dough on a baking pan. Spoon the leaf-egg-feta mixture onto the side facing you, about as wide as you plan to roll, and leaving a bit of a rim for easier rolling and along the side.
Roll (I use the baking sheet to help me rolling, it’s almost like making phyllo sushi).
Fold in the corners, glue with some leftover egg, spread some egg on top and pop it in the oven at 225deg C. When the dough is golden, the egg should be done too, but check.
Enjoy!
I made pumpkin pie after all! I used this recipe from BBC.co.uk, but made the pie shell myself. Normal shortbread dough is too simple to warrant buying it in a shop!
Now I know why this is supposed to be an aphrodisiac – with all the spices, how can it not be!
The taste is… interesting. I am not sure I like the smoothness of the texture (is it possible to just squish the pumpkin roughly with a fork instead of puréeing it?) but the sweet bottom and the fruity, mild filling work well together. I think I should have used more pumpkin though, although it could also have to do with the fact that pumpkin in March is probably not at its ripest (even for French pumpkin)! The smell is lovely and even better when you rewarm it, even though that might be my nose being clogged by all the spices during baking. The pumpkin seems to come out more then.
The leaf on top is Thai basil – the liqorice taste works surprisingly well together with the pie!
Interesting pumpkin pie! Just took a look at recipe you linked to. I was going to suggest mashing the pumpkin with a potato masher for a coarser texture, instead of a puree, but all that whisking at the end would probably break everything down anyway.
Traditional American pumpkin pie (the one I grew up eating) is more commonly made with canned pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs and spices in a plain crust of flour, shortening and ice water. I use the recipe on the back of the Libby’s Pure Pumpkin can. You can see it on the Very Best Baking site: http://tinyurl.com/3nw84
Pie from fresh pumpkin is delicious, but different. Both warrant taste testing, I think, before a preference can me made.
Happy baking!
Nilmandra: Thanks! Interesting indeed – it was a new experience for me. *grins*
Liz: Canned pumpkin is impossible to get here in Sweden, as pumpkin pie technically does not exist. Even finding fresh pumpkin in the supermarket is a rarity!
;)
[…] BF ordered more of that delicious mangold and feta strudel, so I was happy to oblige. Other than that, the box contains Maché salad, a red easter egg and a […]
All looks really delicious!! :) :)