Zucchini Pie

This zucchini pie is one of my favorite recipes. The original recipe I found called for a bread crust, which I wasn't a fan of, particularly because I needed to bake the pie far longer than the suggested time which caused too much browning of the bread (and made it taste bitter!). So instead I made it with a flaky pie crust, and the result was wonderful! The pie itself is pretty easy to make, but one must plan ahead because the crust needs four hours of refrigerating - though the crust really is worth the while. Without further adieu, here is the hybrid zucchini pie recipe:

ZUCCHINI PIE

Ingredients (Pie):

• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 4 cups thinly sliced zucchini (about 3 zucchinis)
  
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 2 eggs (or equivalent substitute), well beaten
• 8 ounces shredded Muenster or mozzarella cheese
  
• 2 teaspoons prepared mustard

Ingredients (Crust):

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup water

Directions for crust (needs to refrigerate for 4 hours):

1. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Shape dough into ball, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
2. Roll out dough on a floured counter. Don’t over work it.

Directions for pie:

1. Heat oven to 375 ºF. Melt butter in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and onions; cook 6 to 8 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in parsley flakes, salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil and oregano.
2. In large bowl, combine eggs and cheese; mix well. Add cooked vegetable mixture; stir gently to mix. (Clara's note: If there is any liquid in the cooked veggie mixture, you might want to drain it out first before adding it to the egg/cheese mixture.)
3. Separate dough into 8 triangles. Place in ungreased 10-inch pie pan, 12x8-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish or 11-inch quiche pan; press over bottom and up sides to form crust. Firmly press perforations to seal. Spread crust with mustard. Pour egg mixture evenly into crust-lined pan.
4. Bake at 375 ºF for 40 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. (The pie may be slightly watery because of the zucchini.) If necessary, cover edge of crust with strips of foil during last 10 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Yield: 6 servings

The finished product.

Time for more gadget-talk...

Whenever I make this zucchini pie, I put my slice wizard to work:

Slice wizard

This slice wizard is made by the same company that makes the chop wizard (which I used to chop the onion; see previous post), which I absolutely adore, so when I saw the slice wizard on clearance at the Linens 'n Things closing sale, I knew I had to get it! And this is one purchase I definitely don't regret! The slice wizard comes with five different inserts (thick slicing, thin slicing, super thin slicing, think julienne, and thin julienne) to suit different slicing needs. I haven't tried all the different inserts yet, but so far, so good!

Zucchini gets inserted into the safety grip holder.

Slice wizard at work.

In less than a minute you've got yourself some thinly sliced zucchini! So easy!

Links:

• Original Italian Zucchini Crescent Pie recipe
• Pie crust recipe
• Vidalia Slice Wizard