Tortes and Pies, yum yum!

This week in our farm share we got something that wasn't green: yellow squash! It is still early in the season here for yellow squash so we were asked to only take 2. I used one in a delicious torte based on a recipe from smitten kitchen: herbed summer squash and potato torte. Without any careful measurements, I halved the recipe to make one torte. I used 1 yellow squash and 3 red potatoes (the recipe calls for yukon golds), each about the size of a baseball. This worked about to be about two layers of each potatoes and squash and the top layer was a mix of the two. After each layer of squash and potatoes I drizzled olive oil and added the cheese mixture from the recipe (parmesan, flour, fresh thyme, black pepper, salt, and fresh green onions also from the farm share). I baked this covered at only 350 (because my pie was in the oven too) for about 20 minutes and then upped the temperature to the called for 375 for another 20 minutes and then let it cook uncovered for about 15 additional minutes. I also added a touch more cheese before that final 15 minutes: it was looking a little bare on top. What a tasty treat, especially with the farm fresh squash and scallions! (And as a side note, the piece I just ate reheated for breakfast was good too!)

And on to the pie. I hope you weren't getting too excited about another desert. We still have blackberry cake left from the other night.

This pie was a savory pie. I used a spinach and ricotta recipe, but I substituted swiss chard for the spinach.

I use a store brand refrigerated pie shell, though obviously this would be all the tastier if you made a homemade shell.

Cook 10 oz. frozen spinach, cool, and drain.

Mix with 1 lb. ricotta cheese (I use skim, low fat ricotta.)

Add 1 large egg

1/4C parmesan, grated (powdery works better than strands)

1/3C flour

1/2t nutmeg

Fill the pie shell with the mixture and top with an additional 1/4C parmesan and dot with about 2T butter.

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes until the top is starting to brown. (If you use swiss chard and put a torte in the oven halfway through, it'll take an extra 10 minutes at 375 to brown!)

Instead of spinach, I used the fresh swiss chard from our farm share. The taste of the chard in the pie was richer and more interesting that the spinach usually is; however, the chard must retain so much more moisture than the spinach because it altered the texture of the pie. I steamed the swiss chard nearly to death, or so it seemed, and yet, it was still moist enough to make the pie less dense than usual. The taste was worth it, though, and as the pie cooled it solidified nicely. So maybe swiss chard and ricotta pie is really designed to be eaten for lunch for the next two days, which is exactly what my husband has done. 1/4 of a swiss chard and ricotta pie + 1 piece of blackberry cake = lunch!