"Pies needn't be confined to dinner, either. Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great American essayist and philosopher who was dubbed a "hopelessly confirmed pie-eater" by his biographer, hewed faithfully to a diet of pie for breakfast. Why not take his cue and try a riff on the classic English wake-up: a pie of caramelized, chopped tomatoes, browned mushrooms, thick-cut bacon and hard-cooked eggs? Or maybe a mash-up of spiced pears sautéed with leeks and country sausage?" -- "The Savory Pie," LA Times, January 13, 2010
This week in the Food pages of the LA Times I noticed an article about savory pies. The writer had me when she mentioned Emerson was a "hopelessly confirmed pie-eater " and that he "hewed faithfully to a diet of pie for breakfast."
I have often had leftover fruit pie with my morning coffee. I was intrigued with the writer's suggestions for savory breakfast pie. So this morning I took her advice and tried my own "riff on the classic English wake-up."
I made a batch of pie dough and set it to chill in the refrigerator while I worked on the filling. When I saw the word "caramelized," my mind also read the word onions, even though "onions" does not appear in the sentence. I decided caramelized onions couldn't hurt anything so that's how I started. I then sliced and cooked about a pound of mushrooms; fried some lardons of bacon; drained, chopped, and cooked down some canned whole peeled tomatoes. I mixed all these things together and bound them with a lightly scrambled egg and freshly grated parmesan cheese. I seasoned the mixture with salt, pepper, and fresh parsley. I wasn't sure if the filling would fill a regular pie or tart dish, so I made it as a galette. I made a depression in the center and cracked an egg into it and cooked the whole thing in a hot oven for 45 minutes. The results were delicious!
I would do a couple of things differently in future. Instead of slicing the mushrooms, next time I will chop them a bit smaller. I also will add the egg later, about 25 minutes into the cooking. I like an egg that's a bit runny. If you like a more hard boiled quality, as is described in the article, go ahead and leave it in for the full time. I could also see increasing the filling by another 50% and filling a pie pan, putting on a top crust with a small hole in the center for the egg and creating a sun design around the hole made of dough scraps. That would be a pretty presentation for guests.
Here's my recipe:
Pie Dough
2 cups flour
a pinch of salt
12 TBS cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 c ice water
Quickly mix together the salt an flour. Add the cubes of butter. Using your hands (or a pastry cutter or fork) work the butter into the flour until it feels like coarse meal. Leave a few larger chunks of butter. Add almost all of the ice water. Using a fork, and then your hands bring the dough together. If you need more water, add it 1 TBS at a time.
Separate into two equal portions and form into balls. Wrap the dough balls in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
Makes a top and bottom crust for a standard pie plate.
Wake-up Pie
1 recipe pie dough
1 large onion sliced
2 TBS unsalted butter
3/4 lb. mushrooms, chopped
3 thick slices of bacon, cut into lardons
1-14oz can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and chopped
2 eggs
2 TBS grated parmesan cheese
2 TBS chopped parsley
salt
freshly ground pepper
1 TBS heavy cream
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Caramelize the onion slices in 1 TBS of butter and a pinch of salt. When finished remove the onions from the heat and put them in a medium mixing bowl. Add 1 TBS butter to the pan and add the mushrooms. Saute the mushrooms until they have released all of their liquid and it has evaporated. Meanwhile cook the lardon. When they are lightly browned, remove them from the pan and drain on paper towels.
When the mushrooms are done cooking season them with salt and pepper and add them to the onions. Put the chopped tomato in the pan you've just removed the mushrooms from and cook until all of the water is evaporated and the tomatoes just begin to stick to the bottom of the pan and brown a bit. Remove the tomatoes from the heat and add them to the mixing bowl with the onions & mushrooms. Add the lardons and the parsley to the mixing bowl as well.
Lightly scramble one egg. Add the parmesan and some salt and pepper and combine it the onion mixture.
Roll out the pie dough, making a circle of approx. 12 inches. Transfer the dough to cookie sheet.
Spread the filling in the center of the dough, leaving roughly 2 inches of dough around the edge. Fold the edges of dough up and over the top of the filling, leaving the center open. Make a depression in the center of the filling.
Brush the heavy cream over the exposed pie dough to glaze.
Cook the pie for 25 minutes. Pull it out at 25 minutes and crack the second egg into the center. Cook for another 20 minutes or until the crust in golden. Remove from the oven, cut into 8 slices and serve.
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