I've been taking a series of pork classes from the owners of a local farm. The classes have been awesome, not only because of the content being taught (think cured meats, sausage making, and butchering) but also because of the food served. Everything is focused on the most local and freshest ingredients possible, and classes have started with cheese trays, charcuterie tastings, and homemade hummus and pickles. They were all delicious, but the tastiest of all was a breakfast pie filled with fresh breakfast sausage, cubes of potato, onion, and cheese held together with eggs and baked in a flaky and flavorful pie crust made with home-rendered lard. You can purchase this pie from the business/farm offering the class, but I decided I would try to recreate it at home. We have made this several times, and it is great.
The breakfast pie I ate at the class was actually made with homemade pimiento cheese mixed into the filling, but since that's not something I normally have on hand, and I want this pie to be something I can put together using what I have (and without having to go through too much fuss), I use either sharp cheddar or a mixture of cheddar and habanero cheddar. Cheddar and pepper jack would work as would just about any other combination of semi-hard cheeses you have on hand.
This pie is delicious for breakfast, but it also makes for a fabulous supper. We like to serve it with a green salad of whatever is in season. Right now, that means a salad of mixed baby greens including kale, beet greens, and arugula tossed in an apple cider/honey vinaigrette. It also reheats really well making it perfect for leftovers. Yum!
Breakfast Pie- makes one 9-inch pie
The recipe for the pie crust comes from Grateful Growers Farm. It makes 5 pie crusts, but they freeze beautifully. The crust is exceptionally flaky because of the lard.
1 russet potato, peeled and diced (other varieties of potato will work also) 1 onion, diced 2 tsp olive oil 1/2 pound bulk breakfast sausage 1 cup cheddar cheese (or a mixture of cheddar and pepper jack) 2 garlic cloves, minced 4 large eggs, lightly beaten 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper 1 pie crust (recipe follows)
Pie Crust: 4 cups of all-purpose flour 1 TBSP sugar 2 tsp salt 1 1/2 cups lard, chilled 1 TBSP vinegar 1 egg 1/2 cup cold water
For the crust: Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times to mix. Place the lard in the food processor and pulse again until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat the vinegar, egg, and water together in a small bowl and slowly add the mixture to the food processor until the mixture comes together. Divide the dough into 5 equal portioned disks (or 4 if making 10 inch pies). Reserve one disk for the pie and wrap and freeze the remaining disks.
Roll the disk for the pie into a 10 inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Place the crust in a pie pan and crimp the edges. Chill the crust while making the filling.
For the filling: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a skillet, heat oil on medium heat. Add potato and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until potato is almost tender, 10-15 minutes. Move potato and onion mixture to the edges of the skillet. Add sausage in the middle and cook, crumbling, until browned. Add the garlic cloves and cook 1 minute more. Place the cooked sausage and potato mixture in a bowl. Add the cheese, beaten eggs, salt, and pepper, and mix well. Pour the filling into the chilled crust. Bake 20-30 minutes until filling is just set and crust is brown (it should jiggle a little in the center). Remove from the oven and allow to cool 10-15 minutes before slicing. Printable Version
Homemade pizza is usually something you have to think about in advance. You need to make the dough and have the toppings cooked and available. But homemade pizza doesn't have to take a lot of prep. By putting foods up all through the summer and having Five Minute Bread dough on hand in the fridge, homemade pizza is a snap to make.
I had a batch of dough in my container in the refrigerator, and I needed to use the rest of it. I've also been trying to use as much out of the freezer as possible, in part because there's not much at the market right now. As I dug through the freezer I pulled out a jar of pesto, some roasted tomatoes, a little frozen sausage, and a container of Roasted Garlic and Herb pasta sauce. I sliced up a ball of fresh mozzarella and started throwing everything together.
I made two small pizza crusts by rolling the Five Minute dough into a round and then stretching it until it was fairly thin. On one pizza, I put a couple of spoonfuls of pesto and spread it around to make a thin layer. Some chopped artichoke hearts and roasted tomatoes were sprinkled over the pesto, and it was topped with sliced mozzarella and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
The other pizza was topped with some Roasted Garlic and Herb pasta sauce that I boiled down until it was thick (almost like a paste) with a sprinkle of sugar. I then topped it with browned crumbles of locally made sausage and slices of mozzarella. Both pizzas were baked on a preheated pizza stone in a 450 degree oven until they were bubbly, brown, and the crusts were crisp. The combinations for pizzas are endless, and having this dough on hand makes homemade pizza possible in less than 30 minutes making it a winner for weeknights when time is short.
The recipes below are approximations. Use your best judgement when it comes to how much sauce, toppings, etc. to put on our pizza, and when determining if your pizza is finished baking. I use ingredients I have preserved over summer (except the artichokes), so unless you have these same ingredients on hand, you will need to find the equivalent in your market or grocery. Sun dried tomatoes can stand in for the roasted tomatoes, store-bought pesto will work fine, and your favorite pasta or pizza sauce will work.
Artichoke and Roasted Tomato Pizza- makes one 9-inch pizza 1 ball of Five Minute Bread dough about the size of your fist Additional flour for rolling and stretching dough 2 Tbsp pesto plus more as needed 1/2 can artichoke hearts, drained well and chopped 6 roasted tomato halves, drained and chopped 4 thin slices fresh mozzarella, about 4 oz. 1-2 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese Cornmeal for dusting
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place a pizza stone inside the oven to heat while you make the pizza. Roll the dough into a ball and then into a circle using a floured rolling pin. Using your hands, stretch the dough into a 9 inch circle by gently pulling and stretching it from the center outward. Place the dough on a pizza peel that has been dusted with cornmeal. Spread pesto on dough almost to the edge. Layer the artichokes and tomatoes over the pesto. Top with the cheeses. Slide the pizza off the peel and onto the hot stone. Bake until crust is crisp and pizza is bubbly, approximately 15 minutes.
Sausage and Mozzarella Pizza- makes one 9-inch pizza
1 ball of Five Minute Bread dough about the size of your fist Additional flour for rolling and stretching dough 2 Tbsp Roasted Garlic and Herb Pasta sauce that has been boiled down until thick with a sprinkling of sugar, or your favorite pasta or pizza sauce 2-3 Tbsp cooked, crumbled sausage, about 2 oz. 4 thin slices fresh mozzarella, about 4 oz. Cornmeal for dusting
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place a pizza stone inside the oven to heat while you make the pizza. Roll the dough into a ball and then into a circle using a floured rolling pin. Using your hands, stretch the dough into a 9 inch circle by gently pulling and stretching it from the center outward. Place the dough on a pizza peel that has been dusted with cornmeal. Spread pasta sauce on dough almost to the edge. Sprinkle the cooked sausage over the sauce. Top with the slices of cheese. Slide the pizza off the peel and onto the hot stone. Bake until crust is crisp and pizza is bubbly, approximately 15 minutes.
