Savory Squash Pie for April Fool's Day

A savory pie with Buttercup and Acorn squash, Manchego and cottage cheeses

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I never set out to make an April Fool's dish.

Actually, like the wolf in The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Amazon affiliate link), all I wanted to do was borrow a cup of sugar to make my dear old granny's birthday cake be lazy while making a quiche. I mean, I pretty much threw everything in the Vitamix instead of chopping it all nice and pretty. The resulting mixture didn't strike me as faux sweet potato or pumpkin pie material until I checked it while it was baking. [And it wasn't done, so I hopped in the car to drive my son to sled hockey practice--we ate sandwiches in the car instead--and mulled over the strange appearance of my quiche.]  By the time we arrived at the rink I'd conceived the April Fool's idea hook.  Yes, the folks at hockey are used to my rambling and just smile and nod.

I just had to decide if it tasted good enough for the blog, so between my family, the folks at work, and my visiting parents this has been thoroughly taste tested.  Thumbs up.  Here ya'are.

This is a rich slice of savory squash pie, so we ate ours in small slices. With a salad it would make a lovely meal (though no, I don't have any cute April Fool's salad ideas.  That's what Pinterest is for!).

Acorn squash surrounded by Buttercup squash--new in our CSA farm share last year

Note:  to roast a winter squash, cut it in half pole to pole, scoop out (and compost) the seeds and strings, and place it cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet.  Add a ½ cup of water, and roast at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-60 minutes until the flesh is tender when you squeeze or poke it. Scoop out the flesh, compost the skins, and you're good to go.  You can even freeze this roasted flesh if you want--it's good in muffins or waffles.

I've revamped my Visual Recipe Index! For more ideas using winter squash, please see my Acorn Squash Recipes Collection, my Buttercup/Butternut Squash Recipes Collection, and my Winter Squash Recipes Collection. These are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.


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Egg, Country Ham, Asparagus and Leek Pizza--a Peek Behind the Scenes of Pizza Night

A terrific pizza for Spring--salty cubes of country ham paired with leeks and roasted asparagus, finished with a sunny side up egg.

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This pizza started on a treadmill and ended with a ham biscuit.

Oh, not exactly on a treadmill--but it was while I was on a treadmill [in socks, as it never occurred to me to bring my walking shoes to Ft Wayne, Indiana in February where I was scraping 3 to 5 inches of snow off the van each time I wanted to drive to or from the hockey rink--I don't recommend walking on a treadmill in socks] that I saw a Diners, Dives, and . . . . Drive Ins maybe? show on Food Network.  Not having cable TV at home I'm not up on all this lingo.  On that show, a talented pizza maker in Minnesota, after pulling a kimchi pizza out of a copper pizza oven that I am swooning over still, cracked an egg on a mostly cooked pizza, used a giant-handled pizza peel to lift it up to the upper dome of the oven, and cooked it just a wee bit.  Holy cow that looked good!

When I got a hankering for country ham biscuits--I think because my car was encrusted with salt but I'm not 100% sure--I had enough country ham left over to try my hand at an egg on a pizza.

Yeah, the crust is um blackened. It's a Feature.

There you are--treadmills to ham biscuits, from Minnesota to the Capitol of the Confederacy . . . on a pizza.

I wrote that introduction after my first attempt at cooking an egg on a pizza, thinking that surely I'd perfect the method with my second attempt.  I mean, I make pizzas for a living a whole lot, you'd think if any home cook in a kitchen could bang this thing out it in a try or two it would be me.  But the reality is I've tried this twice, and while I'm getting better and the results taste great each time, it's not perfect.  Yet.

So why am I posting?  Consider this a Keeping It Real edition of Friday Night Pizza Night.  A [literal, thanks to the spouse's new camera] behind the scenes in my kitchen.  A jumping off place for your home pizza making. Maybe seeing my failures will make you feel better about your less-than-optimal results in the kitchen?  I hope so. I'm trying right alongside you all.

Wee Oliver Picklepants is my kitchen assistant today.

This pizza is a fiddly one.  When I get into trouble with a recipe, I take it down to the bare essentials.

•  I tried this with homemade dough and it . . . um, well, it burned blackened before the eggs were fully set.  So I bought a Boboli® [No sponsorship. I bought it, they don't know I exist] to take the whole 'baking the crust' aspect out of the equation. The result was better, but I'm picky in that I prefer my egg whites to be . . . well, white . . . when I eat them.  
• I made this without, and then with, roasted asparagus.  It's better with more vegetables, like many things are in life. 
• I tried this with an assortment of cheeses.  I do not like to use slices of fresh mozzarella on this pizza, but shredded mozzarella, shredded cheddar, Grand Cru all taste good.
• I've made this with country ham and regular ham, and I prefer the country ham (if you eat ham, that is--leave it off if you don't, and the salty cheese will still rock on with the leeks, asparagus, and egg).

For more recipes with asparagus, please see my Asparagus Recipes Collection. For more recipes with leeks please see my Leek Recipes Collection. They are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.

I'm sharing more recipes on my Pinterest boards, follow me there. If you like a good peek behind the scenes like I do, follow me on Instagram. Need a good read? I'm sharing articles of interest on my Facebook page, follow me there. Want to know How to Use This Blog?

NOTE: This recipe is not gluten free as written, because I used a pizza crust containing gluten. To adapt this recipe for a gluten free diet please substitute the gluten free pizza crust of your choice.
Check labels to confirm that your other ingredients are also gluten free. Good sources for determining gluten free products can be found here:
http://knowgluten.me/2012/03/31/other-names-for-gluten/
http://glutenfreedoctor.com/gluten-free/
http://www.celiac.com/categories/Safe-Gluten%252dFree-Food-List-%7B47%7D-Unsafe-Foods-%26amp%3B-Ingredients/

Egg, Country Ham, Roasted Asparagus and Leek Pizza

Ingredients

• 12-15 stalks of asparagus (if you've got a bundle, roast 'em all and use half)
• olive oil (about 2 Tablespoons total, divided)
• salt and pepper (about ½ teaspoon each, to start)
• 1 prebaked pizza crust of your choice
• 1 clove roasted garlic (here's how I put up my garlic crop, or use minced fresh)
• ⅓ cup sliced leeks (thawed if frozen. what? of course you can freeze leeks)
• ½ cup finely diced country ham, or regular ham
• 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar, or mozzarella, or Grand Cru cheese, or a blend
• 3 eggs, set out so they become room temperature

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  
2. In a large bowl, toss asparagus with about 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper.  
3. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes, then shake the pan to turn the spears and return to the oven for another 5 minutes.  
4. Remove from oven and then switch the oven over to the Broil setting.  I think at least 10 minutes of the oven hanging out on the Broil setting would do the trick. I did 5, enough to top the pizza and take some photos, and I should have let it go longer.
5. Combine the remaining Tablespoon olive oil with a smashed clove of roasted garlic or minced fresh garlic. 
6. Brush this roasted garlic oil over the crust, and think of your friend Heather who gave you the idea to use roasted garlic oil in the first place.  
7. Scatter leeks and ham across the crust, then place the asparagus thusly in a pleasing pattern (I did it like spokes, and that works for me).  
8. Top with shredded cheese, leaving 3 open areas without cheese to nestle the eggs.  
9. Make these open areas towards the outer edge of the pizza crust, because if your egg is in the middle it will never cook. Trust me. Crack the eggs into the open areas.  
10. Place the pizza under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes until the egg is set but before the crust burns becomes a Featured Blackened Crust.  If necessary, take the pizza out and cut it before returning it to the broiler to fully cook the egg white.  I don't really care about the yolk--it can be runny, but my egg white needs to be not clear.

This post is shared on the From the Farm Blog Hop, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Tasty Tuesdays, Simple Supper Tuesdays

Radish Sandwich Spread

Shredded radishes mixed with cream and goat cheeses for a zesty sandwich spread

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I'm a tea drinker.

While in college, cola was my caffeine source of choice.  I tried coffee, but the taste never lived up to the smell and I couldn't get past the first two sips (one more to confirm the first sip).  My first job after college involved going to neighboring farms for coffee after morning milking which was fun--except the whole 'coffee=ugh' thing.  Instead I figured out that if I filled up my cup with milk and added a splash of tea for color I could choke it down politely. Ish. Therefore, I became a tea drinker.

I am partial to the restorative powers of afternoon tea.  I think of it as after school snack for grown ups.  The amazing thing about tea is the variety of foods you can consume with a nice cuppa.  Muffins are a favorite of mine [there's a whole category of muffins in that recipe index on my right sidebar]. This sandwich spread is equally at home in an afternoon tea setting or a lunch plate.  The spicy bite of the radishes and mustard is tempered by the cheeses for a lovely nibble.  This was good spread on celery pieces and would probably be good on crackers.

For more recipes using radishes, please see my Radish Recipes Collection. It's part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.

I'm sharing more recipes on my Pinterest boards, follow me there. If you like a good peek behind the scenes like I do, follow me on Instagram. Need a good read? I'm sharing articles of interest on my Facebook page, follow me there. Want to know How to Use This Blog?

NOTE:  I created this recipe to be gluten free through my choice of ingredients. Check labels to confirm that your products are also gluten free. Good sources for determining that your products are gluten free can be found here:

http://knowgluten.me/2012/03/31/other-names-for-gluten/

http://glutenfreedoctor.com/gluten-free/

http://www.celiac.com/categories/Safe-Gluten%252dFree-Food-List-%7B47%7D-Unsafe-Foods-%26amp%3B-Ingredients/ 

Radish Sandwich Spread (makes 4 sandwiches)

Ingredients

• ¼ cup cream cheese
• ¼ cup goat cheese
• 1 Tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 cup shredded radish
• ¼-½ teaspoon salt, I use kosher
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper (about)
• bread of your choice, or use vegetables or crackers

Instructions

1. Combine in a food processor until well blended.  
2. Chill for an hour, or up to 4 hours.  Spread on thin sandwich bread or crackers or vegetables, or use as a dip.
3. Note:  while this spread should chill for a while before serving, it only keeps about a day.  After that it gets kinda weepy, so I recommend making just what you are planning to use that day.

This post is shared with What's Cookin' Wednesday, Fresh Foods Wednesday, From the Farm Blog Hop, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Tasty Tuesdays, Food on Friday