RUCOLA TOMATO PIE
The best invention ever made in the baking world is the ready-made phyllo crust or the so called puff pastry. I always have it in my fridge, so that it´s always ready to use when friends visit unexpectedly with short notice. It is my preference to use the ready made ones because it only doesn´t save time but also saves my energy kneading the dough. There are also quality products available in discount supermarkets rolled and packed carefully with a baking parchment that you can include in the oven.
Ingredients
1 readymade puff pastry ( approx 270-275 gms ) for
a 24 cm pie form
250 g Ricotta ( fresh italian White cheese)
200 g Rucola leaves
3 eggs, 2 cloves crushed garlic
3 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced ( reserve about 4-5 slices for
topping)
3 spring onions cut into small pieces
salt & pepper
cooking oil to sautée the leaves
butter to coat the pie form
Instructions:
1... Preheat the oven at 180°C. Coat the pie form with butter, roll out the pastry, remove the paper (set aside for later use), place the pastry onto the form slightly pressing it so that it covers the form completely. Tuck the pastry edges towards the inner side just like in a pizza crust (see Image nr. 1).... prick all the surface of the pastry using fork
2...Place the pastry paper or parchment on top of the pastry, then add dried beans to bake-blind the pastry for 10 minutes under 180°C/356°F
Remove the paper and the beans and bake 3 minutes more to get a crispy crust all over. Set aside for later filling of the remaining ingredients.
3...In a pan with 1 tbsp butter, slightly fry the rucola leaves until they get limp and loose its liquid, put in a colander to squeeze out more liquid.... set aside.
In the same pan, add 1 tbsp cooking oil & fry the crushed garlic, 2 sliced tomatoes and the cut spring onions til done (about 2 minutes).... set aside.
4... Fill the puffed pastry with half of the egg-Ricotta mixture. Arrange the Rucola and tomatoes on top of it and add 1/4 of the of the egg mixture. Then, top with the reserved sliced tomatoes. Pour the rest of the egg mixture and bake at reduced heat of 175°C for about 20 minutes.... for crispy edges, bake more for 5 minutes.
Can be served warm or cold, goes well with white wine.
Note: If the puff pastry tends to become too dark during the baking process, cover the pie with an aluminum foil, remove cover 5 minutes before the baking time ends.
All images are properties of the author.
Happy Baking!
