Portabella Pie
The menu for this week proves that I apparently cannot go a week without relying heavily on chicken. I can’t get away from it! In my second-semester writing class for the past 2 years, I have taught an essay called “A Savage Life,” in which Suzanne Winckler vividly describes her ritual participation in chicken-butchering at a friend’s farm. Both times I’ve taught the essay, without fail, on the way to school I’ve ended up behind one of those awful chicken trucks with the cages stacked on top of each other, feathers flying out everywhere. Coincidence? Maybe, except that another professor confessed last year that the same exact thing happens to her. What is the interstate trying to tell us, I wonder?
I don’t know, but it is certainly hard for me to go a week without using this versatile bird in my menu. My apologies for his constant presence. I did, at least, avoid him until Wednesday this week. That’s something, right?
For my first chicken-free meal, I made this portabella mushroom pie. My good friend from Jackson, Angela Simpkins, makes a pie similar to this one; I think of her each time I make it. I did not make my own pie crust this time (Aunt Prissy, don’t be mad!), but if you have time, you should. The caramelized onions with their sweet richness and tangy feta cheese complement the earthiness of the mushrooms nicely. I have, in the past, added the tomatoes without cooking them first, but then, they make the pie too juicy and the crust soggy. Roasting them first in the oven intensifies their flavor, and eliminates much of their water content. I served the pie with an arugula salad, finished with long, thin slices of parmesan, cracked black pepper, and olive oil.
PORTABELLA PIE
2 pie crusts
2 onions (1 red, 1 yellow) sliced thinly
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
3-4 medium tomatoes, chopped
4 portabella mushrooms, chopped
More olive oil
Kosher salt
Cracked pepper
4 ounces feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place one of the crusts in a pie dish, poke holes in it with a fork, and cook for about 10 minutes, until beginning to brown. In a large skillet, heat the butter and olive oil. Cook the onions over medium-high for about 20 minutes, or until they begin to release their sugars and brown. At that point, salt well, and turn off the heat. Meanwhile, toss the tomatoes with olive oil on a cookie sheet (the pieces should be evenly coated), salt and pepper well. Place the mushroom pieces on a separate cookie sheet, and coat them with oil, salt, and pepper also. Roast the tomatoes and mushrooms in a 425-oven for about 12 minutes, or until they begin to shrivel (see photo below). Layer the vegetables in the pie crust, beginning with the mushrooms and ending with the onions; sprinkle the cheese and some basil between each layer. Top with the remaining pie crust, and bake until the top is just beginning to brown, about 10-15 more minutes.
