Onion & Potato Pie with Herbed Crust
We’ve officially hit November and with the holidays ahead it’s time to switch from ghosts and goblins to turkey and football. Okay, we’ve been doing football for several weeks, but let’s be honest, was anyone really watching it? I mean, I was but I’m a huge football fanatic. While I love football, once we hit November, I’m not thinking about the pigskin. I’m thinking about Thanksgiving.
The first of the major holidays, Thanksgiving is all about turkey and stuffing, cranberries and pumpkin pie. This is the time when I start scouring blogs, websites and magazines looking for the perfect recipe to present at my Thanksgiving table. While the turkey is the main event, I love making new and interesting sides. Don’t get me wrong, I won’t turn down a bowl of mashed sweet potatoes or green bean casserole, but those are old standards. Nothing makes me happier than taking a classic dish and putting a new and interesting spin on it. Take those mashed sweet potatoes. Who says they have to be mashed? Why couldn’t they be a casserole or chopped up and roasted? Better yet, why couldn’t they be a pie?
Now, I know that pie is usually reserved for the end of the meal, but why? Just because there’s a crust, doesn’t mean it has to be sweet. Some of my favorite pies are savory. Look at the classic Chicken Pot Pie. You can’t get more hearty than a thick, rich chicken pot pie and there isn’t one ounce of sugar in that. So, I started thinking… why couldn’t I make a thick, comfy potato pie? I could slice the potatoes nice and thin like an au gratin, cook them in a rich and creamy roux and cover the whole thing with a flakey herbed crust. Yum!
This idea came to me right after I got a delivery from my favorite produce company, Melissa’s. Inside the box were some Ruby Gold potatoes and pearl onions. I love pearl onions, especially when they’re caramelized. They just add a great pop of sweetness to an otherwise savory dish. But the thing that really tied these two flavors together was the olive oil.
See, Melissa’s sent me two bottles of Garcia de la Cruz olive oil, a Spanish olive oil that has a rich, herbal flavor with a hint of nuttiness. A family-owned company that’s been producing oil since 1872, they’re goal is “to grow, produce and bottle the world’s finest organic extra virgin olive oils”. And I can tell you after tasting it, this oil is absolutely delicious! While it’s wonderful on a simple piece of sourdough, those spicy herbal notes tie this creamy filling together with the herbed crust. It’s a serious win! This pie would be great any night of the week, but I think it will look amazing on your Thanksgiving table next to the turkey and stuffing.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1-1/2 cups flour, divided
- 2 teaspoons Herbs de Provence
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons lard
- 1-2 tablespoon cold water
- 3 tablespoons Garcia de la Cruz olive oil, divided
- 1 (8 ounce) container pearl onions, peeled
- 1-1/2 cups vegetable stock
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 pounds Ruby Gold Potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
Instructions
Make the crust:
- Whisk together the salt, 1-1/4 cups flour and the Herbs de Provence in a large bowl. Add the butter and lard and work together with your fingers until the mixture looks like coarse meal.
- Dip your fingers in iced water to keep them cold and pack the dough into a ball. Press into a flat circle. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.
Make the filling:
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and let cook without disturbing for at least 2 minutes or until they start to caramelize. Add a little salt and pepper and 1/4 cup of flour. Stir the onions until they're coated with the flour.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and whisk in the vegetable stock. Let simmer, stirring occasionally until the onions begin to soften and the sauce becomes thick, about 10 minutes. Whisk in the cream and last tablespoon of oil. Stir in the potatoes and make sure they're coated. Let simmer for another 5 minutes. Pour into a 9-inch pie plate and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place the dough disc between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out until about 1/4 -inch thick.
- Carefully remove one of the sheets of parchment paper. Take the other sheet and lay the crust over the top.
- Crimp the edges, cut several slits in the crust, lightly brush with the beaten egg and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Serve immediately.
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. The olive oil, potatoes and pearl onions were provided by Melissa’s Produce for recipe testing. As always, any opinion expressed is my own and is not influenced in any way by the manufacturer/PR firm as I only review products that I have personally tested and endorse.
