Savory Summer Pie

From Foodsies!

This recipe was inspired by one found here for a savory tomato-pesto pie (with lots and lots of cheese). When I read it, I instantly thought of summer, of warm summer flavors and a carefree day with friends, of sharing light conversation and juicy tomatoes. And as we had weather in the 50's (practically summer for Boston!), I had a hankering to veganize this dish. So, with a Saturday free for experimentation, that's just what I did. And boy howdy did it turn out near perfect!

I think from now on, this is going to be one of my staple dishes to bring to a small potluck or dinner-at-a-friend's. It's easy and doesn't take much longer than most casseroles, but has a warm and cozy day-spent-cooking sort of look and feel to it. And everyone loves pies, amiright?



The primary hurdle was to think of how to replace the cheese while still maintaining the light and juicy essence of the pie (simply omitting the cheese would leave a pie consisting of nothing but tomato and pesto, which would be a bit... dull). I think in the original recipe, the cheese probably provides a mild flavor and a juicy chewiness (via the mozzerella), maybe a bit of tang as well (from the romano).

I decided to use summer squash and zucchini to provide the mild flavor (to contrast with the bright flavor of the tomato and the zip of the pesto) and creamy texture. Plus it sticks with the summer theme (like the tomato and basil). And as luck would have it, I had some squash and zucchini already in my fridge.

To provide a little additional creaminess and tang, I added some silken tofu, cashews, and a bit of nutritional yeast to my pesto recipe.

All combined, this turned out wonderfully. The squash filled its role perfectly, and the pesto turned out nicely both in the pie and eaten as a dip for chips.

Savory Summer Pie (Vegan)

Ingredients

Pesto*

2/3 Cup Pine Nuts or Raw Almonds (if you want to save some cash)
1/4 Cup Cashews (optional - you can replace with more pine nuts)
3 TBSP Olive Oil
4 Cups Fresh Basil
3 TBSP Lemon Juice
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Container Silken Tofu
1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast (optional)
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Tomatoes, diced

Filling

1 Summer Squash
1 Zucchini**
6 Plum Tomatoes***
Salt and Pepper to taste

Crust

3 Cups Flour****
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Earth Balance
1 Cup Soymilk

* If you wish, you can sub in your favorite pesto recipe here. You can then add tofu or not, depending on how creamy you want it. It will work just fine with just regular pesto (no tofu).

** You could just use 2 Summer Squashes (or even 2 Zucchini) if you prefer.

*** Plum Tomatoes are meatier than regular tomatoes, so there's more tomato and less juice. I agree with the author of the original recipe - plum tomatoes probably work better than regular ones for this recipe (although use whatever you have, i'm sure it'll be tasty).

**** You can use half (or even all) Whole Wheat Flour or just use All Purpose Flour.

Instructions

First, make your Pesto. To do this, toss all of the pesto ingredients minus oil in your food processor and process until combined. Then slowly drizzle in the olive oil while processing, and pause to scrape down the sides when necessary. If you find that it isn't as smooth as you want it, you can remove at this point and blend it some in a blender.

If you have a sweet Cylon Blender like I do, then instead you need to start with just the nuts and olive oil and blend. Then add all of the other ingredients and blend til smooth and delicious.

Set aside.

Now you want to get the squash going. Get a large skillet going on Medium heat with a little bit of olive oil or spray. Slice your squash and/or zucchini into thin slices (about 1/4 inch) and toss into the skillet. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and saute until the squash is very tender and kinda see-through. It'll take several minutes at least. Be sure to give it a stir once in a while so it all cooks evenly.

While that's going, slice your tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices as well and set aside.

When your squash is done, remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400.

Now to make your dough. Pour the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the Earth Balance in tiny pieces and then cut into the flour, and/or just use your hands to thoroughly mix in the Earth Balance. The flour should become coarser. Now add your other dry ingredients and mix.

Slowly add the milk (as you may not need all of it) and mix until you have a good dough that isn't too sticky but is wet enough to stay in a cohesive ball when you tell it to.

Split the dough into two pieces, one just a little bit smaller than the other (see below).

From Foodsies!

Cover the smaller ball with saran wrap and set aside.

On a well-floured surface, roll out the first ball into a circle about 12 inches in diameter (see picture). It is better to err on the side of larger than smaller. You want the dough to be about 1/4 inch thick, maybe a little thinner. It depends on how thick or thin you like your crust, really (taking into account that it will thicken a smidge when cooking). I made mine very thin, and in the end I wished it had been a bit thicker.

From Foodsies!

Now lay the dough down in a 9" pie pan and cut any extreme excess dough from the edges. Keep in mind you want it to have a wee bit extra beyond the lip of the pan, but not much. In the picture below, you can see that I actually did a terrible job and had areas with too much edge and edges with not enough. In this case you can cut off the excess and use it to patch up the areas with not enough. Same thing if the dough tears - just stick it back together and patch with a little extra dough if you need to.

From Foodsies!

Now take your pesto and a spoon and spoon it onto the crust. Use the back of the spoon to spread it out. You don't need a really thick layer, but don't skimp either.

From Foodsies!

Next, lay down your squash slices on the pesto so that they cover the whole bottom.

From Foodsies!

Top with a layer of tomato. Then top that layer of tomato with more pesto (no skimping!) and then another layer of squash, another layer of tomato, and a final layer of pesto. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

From Foodsies!

Now the fun part! Set that aside and get out your other ball of dough. Roll it out on a floured surface until it is about 9" in diameter and about 1/4 inch thick, or a bit thinner.

Carefully lay it down over the top of the pie - it should ideally fit right inside and be the same diameter as the pie pan. If it's a little large, just snip it down a little.

Now take that little bit of dough from the bottom crust which extends just beyond the rim of the pan and fold it over towards the middle overtop of the edge of the top dough layer. Basically you want to seal the pie by connecting the bottom dough with the top dough.
If you want to be fancy (which I was not), you can crimp around the edges with your fingers. Actually I would have done this, but my bottom layer didn't extend high enough to fold back atop the upper crust very well, so I had to work pretty hard just to seal it, much less to make fancy crimps.

Using a knife to cut a few slits in the top of the dough so that steam can escape during baking. This is important.

If you want to be cute, you can use the knife to cut a quarter-size hole from the middle of the crust. Then cut out a similar size (but every so slightly bigger) slice of tomato and place it in the hole. Tuck it just under the dough.

As the pie bakes, the tomato slice will cook a bit and darken, and it will look really pretty. Most importantly, this will indicate that it is a savory pie, and not a fruit pie (lest someone be surprised and disappointed upon cutting into the pie).

Now you're all set to bake!

Throw the pie in the oven at 400. Bake for 30 minutes. Check the pie. If the crust is getting too dark, remove from the oven and cover the edge of the pie with a strip of aluminum foil. Replace and bake for another 10 minutes. Check the pie again. If the crust is nice and browned (or if you used whole wheat flour, you'll just have to guess a bit at this point) and firm and feels cooked through, remove from the oven. If it needs a few minutes, feel free to give it another 5-10 minutes and then remove.

You should have this:

From Foodsies!

Serve and enjoy! I bet it would be great with some sweet iced tea and the company of good friends.

Read more On "Savory Summer Pie"!

Amazing Momos (Tibetan Steamed Dumplings)

From Foodsies!

My absolute favorite restaurant in Boston has to be Rangzen. It is a small Tibetan restaurant and their food is great. My favorite dish there is Momo Thukpa which is a dumpling soup. The dumplings are stuffed with tofu and veggies, and although the soup comes with egg as standard, they are happy to produce it without the egg. In fact, one time when I ordered it, they said it always came without egg. But I still ask for it without, just in case.

But Rangzen (which I refer to simply as Momo, because that is what I order there and it's easier and more fun to say than Rangzen) is all the way in Cambridge. And it costs money. But last night I was delirious in my desire for Momo. So I just went ahead and made my own!

It was surprisingly easy, although a little time consuming I guess. But Wednesday is a night that there isn't much on TV or anything, and it was snowing out, so it seemed like a good night to just relax in the kitchen.

I'm going to share two recipes, one for what I actually made last night, and one for a version that I think will more closely replicate the Momo that Rangzen makes. I was constrained by being unable to find fresh cilantro at the local co-op, and by having some veggie-beef crumbles I needed to use up. Next time i'll make the 2nd recipe.

Both recipes are low fat, low calorie (and Scott - for low-sodium, just use less soy sauce and/or low-sodium soy sauce). I don't really count veggies towards that stuff, and that's about all that is in here. Almost no oil is used at all (only the tiniest bit rubbed on the bottom of the Momo so that they don't stick to the steamer). So they taste divine, and you can eat as many of them as you want!
Um, unless you are watching your carbs, in which case I guess the flour screws you. Sorry!



Tibetan Momo

Ingredients:

3 Cups Flour
1 Cup Water
1 Onion
1/2 Cup Baby Bok Choy
1/2 Cup Spring Onion/Scallions
1 Cup Cabbage
(the whitish-green kind, not the reddish-purple kind, although I guess you could use either)
1 Cup Mushrooms
(dark asian mushrooms would be best, but you can use regular button also)
1/2 Cup Veggie-Beef Crumbles
(I had to use it up. You can use tofu instead)
2 TBSP Fresh Ginger
(grated/minced - you can use one of these or these or mortle/pestle, or just chop it really fine with a knife)
1/2 Cup Fresh Cilantro
(if available - if not, use about 1/4 cup dried cilantro)
3 Cloves Garlic (minced)
1 TBSP Soy Sauce
1 TBSP Veggie Broth (or No-Chicken Broth, Veggie Boillon, etc)

If you don't have fresh ginger, then sub in 1/2 TBSP of Ginger Powder. If you like ginger, you may wish to add this anyway.
You will also want some extra flour on hand for rolling the dough later, as well as a small dish of water. You will also need a teeny dish holding about 1/2 tsp of Canola Oil.

Instructions:

First you will make the dough. Dump 3 cups of flour into a large mixing bowl. Now gradually add water as you mix (by hand, not with a bread mixer) until the dough is moist and a bit sticky. You want to be able to shape it into a ball and be able to stretch it out a little before it breaks apart. Don't sweat it if you aren't sure if it's too dry or too wet. It's such a basic dough that you don't need to do anything perfectly.
Now wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set aside, or to be more ecofriendly, place the dough ball in a non-stick pot and put the lid on. You don't want the dough to dry out.

Now for the filling. You can do this two different ways. You can chop all of your veggies by hand, into fairly small pieces, or you can dump them all in a food processor and chop them up. I used the food processor and wound up with a mix that was chopped very fine as a result. In hindsight, I think it may have been better for the ingredients to have not been so finely chopped, but just because of how I like my dumplings. I like a bite with big chunks in it, not teeny chunks. So, personal preference - but get the veggies chopped up somehow.

Dump your chopped up veggies into a mixing bowl and add your garlic, ginger, cilantro, soy sauce, and veggie broth. Stir and mix well. The result should be moist and wet, but not like, sitting in a puddle of juices. If for some reason you wind up with a huge puddle of juices, just pour a little of it out, or squeeze some of it out from the mixture. We're going for juicy dumpling filling, not soup.

At this point you should go ahead and get your water boiling in your steamer. WTF is a steamer? A steamer can be many things. You can use a standard pot and then place a steamer basket in it. You can use one made from bamboo, or from metal. There are also special steamer pots, which have special steamer inserts. You can get a similar insert for your standard pot (like a fancier version of the bamboo or metal steamers above). Also, even the cheapest rice cookers usually come with a little steamer tray. It allows you to load up the rice as normal, then put the steamer tray in place, and then cover. As the rice cooks, the veggies (or dumplings in this case), get steamed.

If you are using the rice cooker, you don't need to start the water boiling, because the rice cooker will take care of that step automagically for you.

NOTE: You want the water to reach just below the steamer. So pay attention when filling your pot. Also, you do not want your pot to run out of water to boil (won't steam very well then will it). To avoid this, place a penny or small pebble in the water. It will rattle when the water boils, so if it stops rattling you will know you are out of water. It will suck to have to open everything up (releasing precious steam) and refill it with water, but you do what you gotta do.

Now that you've got the water going, set up your Dumpling Making (Makling!) Station. You will want a rolling pin, rolling pin cover (if you have one), cutting board or dough mat (unless you want to roll it out direct on your counter? eww?), a dish of extra flour, the teeny dish of oil, and your steamer tray.

There are a few different ways to roll out the dough and form your dumplings. Here is my method:

1. Pull of a small amount of dough, about the size of a ping pong or golf ball.

2. Dust some flour between your fingers and roll the dough around in your hands to form a ball and to pick up some of the flour from your hands.

3. Plop the ball onto the cutting board and pat down into a thick round pad. Use the rolling pin to roll it out as evenenly as possible in every direction. You want to get the dough very thin, although not so thing that it rips.

4. Now pick up the circle of dough (or oddly m ishapen geometric shape of dough) and place it in your left palm. Use a spoon (I like using an ice cream scoop) and grab about a tablespoon or a little more of dough and place it in the center of the dough on your palm.

5. Use your right hand to pull up two sides of the dough to meet in the middle above the filling, sort of forming a basket. Rotate the dough in your palm and pull up a bit of dough from the side to meet at the top also. Continue this until you have a little round sack with a pinched up top. Make sure it's all sealed pretty well, because you don't want any of the juices escaping when it steams.

Another method is the same as the above, except in step 5 you simply pinch up all the dough together in a line, like forming a taco with the top sealed. Conversely, you can do this on the cutting board rather than in your palm, and simply fold over one side of the dough over the other to form a half-moon and pinch the edges down.

Finally, you can use a different method to get the dough circles by rolling out all of the dough at once and then using a round cookie cutter or a highball glass to cut it into dough circles. I don't like this method as much because I find it to be a pain to roll out so much dough, and also you have to do it a few times to use up all the dough. But to each their own.

Now, as each dumpling is finished, dip your fingertip into the bit of Canola Oil and rub on the bottom of the dumpling. Place it on the steamer rack.

Once your steamer rack is full, check to see if your water is boiling. If it is, place the steamer rack in place and cover. Let steam for about 10 minutes. Or if you are using a rice cooker, place the rack into the rice cooker and turn it on. The rice cooker should tell you itself when it is finished (you may want to check your rice cooker's instruction booklet to be sure how the steamer part of it works).

After 10 minutes you should have sweaty delicious Momo! Like a Momo fresh from the sauna! Despite the sweaty appearance, if you pick one up, it should be surprisingly firm. At least, that's how I like them, because I like to eat them with my hands. But be careful! The filling will be wet which means even when the outside of the momo has cooled down some, the inside could still be very hot! And burning your tongue sucks, so consider yourself warned.

You may need to make two or more batches. Make the 2nd batch while the first batch steams.
Then just turn off the heat to the steamer, remove the momo's and wrap them in plastic wrap or place in a pot with a lid so they don't dry out. Put the new batch in the steamer and go.
Feel free to clean the kitchen while the 2nd batch steams ;)

Mmmm Mmmm Momo!

From Foodsies!

Didn't I say that I want to change the recipe for the future?

Oh yeah, I did say that. I think my Momo turned out lovely and very, very tasty! But I feel like the Momo at Rangzen have a sort of lighter, fresher flavor. Part of this is no doubt due to fresh cilantro (which is like a drug or love potion to me), but may also be a reflection of other ingredients as well. As a result, here is what I plan to try next time:

Ingredients:

3 Cups Flour
1 Cup Water
2 Cups Cabbage
1/2 Cup Spring Onion/Scallions
1 Cup Mushrooms
(or maybe Bok Choy instead, for a lighter flavor)
1 Box Firm Tofu (non-silken)
1 Ton Fresh Cilantro ;)
(in reality, probably a good size handful or two chopped)
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 TBSP Fresh Ginger, minced
1/2 TBSP Soy Sauce
1/2 TBSP Veggie Broth
1 TBSP Water

Directions being the same.

I guess it isn't so very different. I just want more cabbage/cilantro/scallion flavor along with the ginger and mushroom flavors, and the refreshing non-flavor break that the tofu gives to each bite. It's hard to explain. I just want something that tastes lighter and springier, less dark and meaty.

Anyway, Momo is always great!

From Foodsies!

My next Tibetan mission will have to be making Thukpa soup to go along with the Momo, so that I can make my own Momo Thukpa! And also to master the Momo dipping sauce, which is a sort of spicy green cilantro-y tomato-y chile-y sauce.

For the record, I didn't find my Momo to even need a dipping sauce. They were quite flavorful and juicy on their own. But the dipping sauce at Rangzen is to die for..



Read more On "Amazing Momos (Tibetan Steamed Dumplings)"!