Some Easy Pie Recipes To Drop Jaws For Company

Jeddest

Throughout history, many cultures have had their form of pie ? handheld savory pies during the Medieval ages were called ?coffins,? calzones from Italy, the Cornish pasty, cottage or shepherd?s pie from Great Britain, empanadas from Latin America, Canadian tourti?res, our own pot pies, and doubtless many more. These savory pies may contain anything from fish and lamb to chicken, beef and pork, even vegetarian versions.  

I decided to try my hand at pie making, but with the help of refrigerated pie crusts, crescents, puff pastry and pizza dough. Flaky ham and cheese breakfast pockets using puff pastry, while mini chicken pot pies and turnovers were formed from refrigerated pie crusts. Shepherd?s pie, which makes a delicious all-in-one dinner, is topped with mashed potatoes rather than pie crust.   Sweet pies come in so many delightful varieties ? cream pies and meringues, fruit and chocolate. Armed with some new kitchen gadgets and a pile of clipped recipes (a strange hobby for someone who rarely cooks!) A double-crust berry pie uses ingredients found in a jar at Williams Sonoma (cheating, yes, but seemed to go hand-in-hand with refrigerated pie crusts). Since these jars are a bit pricey, utilize any leftover berries to make tarts or mini tarts.   I tried my hand at a rustic cherry pie, with edges folded in over the filling, leaving the cherries and sliced almonds visible. I was a bit greedy and my over-filled rustic pie began to lose its shape, so I simply pulled it into a pie pan to finish baking. What I lost in ?rusticity? I surely gained in fabulous cherry flavor.   Making pie is not as easy as ? pie! Even refrigerated pastry does not guarantee a successful finished product. But as with anything, practice makes perfect, so I look forward to many more delicious baking sessions. Who knows ? I may even graduate to making pie crust from scratch!    

SAVORY

Shepherd?s Pie

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 oz. sliced mushrooms
• 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
• ? cup A-1 Steak Sauce
• ? cup beef broth
• Salt & pepper
• 2 cups mashed potatoes

  Saut? onion in olive oil until translucent; add garlic and mushrooms and saut? until mushrooms cook down. Add the frozen vegetables and heat through. In separate pan, saut? ground beef until no longer pink; stir in A-1 sauce and broth and stir. Add beef to vegetable mixture and cook for a few minutes to allow flavors to marry. Add pepper to taste and salt if needed.   Spoon into deep-dish pie pan or casserole and spread mashed potatoes over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until bubbly and potatoes start to brown. Sprinkle shredded cheese or green onions on top, and let stand 5 minutes before serving.  

Chicken Pot Pie (minis, turnovers or whole pie)

• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 4 oz. sliced mushrooms
• 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 ? cups chopped white meat from rotisserie chicken
• 1 can Progresso Recipe Starters creamy roasted garlic cooking sauce
• Salt & pepper
• Refrigerated pie crusts
• 1 egg white, beaten

  Saut? onion in olive oil until translucent; add garlic and mushrooms and continue saut?ing until mushrooms cook down. Add the frozen vegetables, chicken and enough Progresso sauce to moisten (I used about ? can). Add pepper to taste and salt if needed.   Arrange bottom crust in pie pan and spoon in the meat mixture. Place second crust over pie, and cut several slits to allow steam to escape. Brush with egg white and bake in 425-degree oven for 15-25 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.   For mini pies, prepare as above, but use small pans for each pie and reduce baking time as needed.   Turnovers: Pie crust can be used to cut round shapes, or refrigerated crescent sheets for turnovers. Spoon a small amount of meat mixture onto dough; brush edges with egg wash and seal, then crimp all around with a fork. Pierce the tarts or turnovers with the fork to allow steam to escape. Bake as above, but reduce baking time just until pies are golden brown. (Phyllo dough can also be used.)  

 

Ham & Cheese Breakfast Pockets

• 8 eggs
• Milk
• ? cup onion, diced
• 1 T. butter
• 4 oz. sliced mushrooms
• Bacon, Canadian bacon or ham, diced
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• 3 scallions, sliced
• Salt & pepper
• Puff Pastry, thawed per package directions
• Egg white

  Saut?e onion in butter; add mushrooms and continue saut?ing until mushrooms are cooked down. Add the meat and scallions; scramble the eggs with milk, add salt and pepper, and pour into pan. Stir until cooked, then stir the cheese into the mixture.   Prepare the dough as directed, cutting each slab into 6 equal rectangles. Roll out and make sure the edges are squared. Spoon some of the egg mixture onto three of the rectangles, and brush the edges with the egg wash. Top with another dough rectangle and crimp edges all around with a fork. Pierce top with the fork to allow steam to escape. Bake 15-20 minutes in 375-degree oven. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Can be wrapped and frozen, reheated in oven or microwave.  

Spinach & Feta Pie

• Frozen Puff Pastry, thawed per package directions
• ? cup melted butter
• 1 16-oz. container Ricotta
• 1 large eggs, beaten
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 oz. package feta, crumbled
• 4 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 cup shredded Mozzarella
• ? cup chopped fresh parsley
• Zest of one lemon
• 1 T. lemon juice
• ? tsp. black pepper

  Prepare the Puff Pastry as package directs. Place in a pie pan with dough edges hanging over the edge of the pan.   In a large bowl, mix the ricotta, eggs, garlic, feta and black pepper. Taste before salting since the cheeses are already salty. Add the spinach, parsley, lemon zest and juice, and Mozzarella; gently combine.   Spoon mixture into pan, then fold the pastry over the top, leaving the center open. Bake 30-35 minutes until golden and set. After 20 minutes, you may need to loosely cover with foil if pastry is getting too brown. Remove from oven and allow to set for 10 minutes before serving.   If you?re looking for a great appetizer, bake Phyllo shells until lightly browned. Spoon spinach mixture into center of each shell and continue to bake until nicely browned and spinach is warm. You can also use refrigerated crescents or puff pastry to make turnovers or small tarts. Cover with foil if pastry gets too brown. Serve warm.    

SWEET

Berry Pie

• 1 package refrigerated pie crusts
• 1 ? jars Berry Patch Pie Filling from Williams Sonoma (a luscious blend of Michigan blueberries, Washington boysenberries, and Oregon strawberries and marionberries)
• 1 egg white, beaten
• Sparkling Sugar

  Arrange bottom crust in pan and spoon in the berries ? I used 1 ? jars for the pie, then used the rest to make tarts using refrigerated crescent sheets. Place the second crust on top of the pie, cutting slits on top to allow steam to escape. Brush top with egg wash and add decorations cut from another sheet of dough. Brush these with egg wash also; sprinkle top of pie with Sparkling Sugar and bake 35-40 minutes in 350-degree oven. Remove from oven and let cool before serving with ice cream.   Use any leftover berry pie filling to make tarts or turnovers using either refrigerated pie crust or crescent sheets.  

Rustic Cherry Pie

• 1 can tart cherry pie filling
• ? bag frozen tart cherries (not thawed)
• refrigerated pie crust
• 2 T. Amaretto liqueur
• Slivered almonds
• Sparkling Sugar

  Cover sheet pan with parchment paper, and arrange pie crust in center of pan. Mix together the cherry pie filling and frozen cherries, and add the Amaretto (or almond flavoring). Spoon the fruit into the center, leaving about 2 inches of dough all around. Fold dough over fruit, making pleats as you go all around, leaving about a 3-inch opening. Brush dough with melted butter and sprinkle with sparkling sugar; sprinkle slivered almonds over the cherry center. Bake 35-40 minutes in 350-degree oven. If your crust cracks and the filling starts to ooze out as mine did, carefully remove from the oven and transfer with the parchment paper into a pie pan; finish baking. Remove from the oven and leave as is, cutting away the parchment paper, or remove from the pie pan for a rustic look. Let cool before serving with ice cream.

Original Source: Distinctly Oklahoma.

Jim&Jaime

What is this?

ChristyDM82

Jim&Jaime:

What is this?

Bizarre spam? 

alithebride

LOL really?! jaw dropping? with canned pie filling and premade crust and recipe starters? yeah....... if this is 'distinctly' oklahoma I'm thinking OK needs to up it's cuisine a bit

ohioloveyou

This post makes my brain hurt.  Too long.