Just like last week's tomato pie, today's pie is another that was a long time in the making. As a beer brewer, home brewer, and all around beer enthusiast, I felt pretty silly when Ashley asked me "why I hadn't tried to incorporate beer into any of the pizza pie recipes I've come up with".

After I got past my initial huh-men-a-huh-men-a-huh-men-a's, I quickly concocted a funky, malty, beer based pie to regain my beer cred.

Beer braised mushrooms seemed like a great way to incorporate  beer flavor into a pie. The earthiness of the mushrooms would pair nicely with the maltiness and roastiness of a stout, and be able to hold their own against the other flavors of the pizza. I grabbed a bottle of irish stout (I used  Trader Joe's Oatmeal stout, which is actually rebranded Goose Island Oatmeal stout, but I digress). Pouring the stout into a pyrex dish, I added some salt, miso, and a bit of lactic acid*.

[*NOTE: Irish stouts are known for the slight lactic sourness they exhibit on the finish. Wanting to capture this, and since, being a beer brewing geek, I had a bottle of lactic acid on hand, I decided to add a 1/2 tsp of the acid to the beer braise to accentuate that sour tang in the mushrooms. Long story short, this is entirely optional.]

Knowing that I needed something a little funkier than our normal mozzarella/pecorino cheese combo, I opted to top the pie with Scamorza. Scamorza is an aged mozzarella cheese that, while still creamy, is a bit more edgy, smokey, and tangy. I paired that with a bit of sharp provolone for a little extra funk. 

With a funky cheese base laid down, the malty, tangy mushrooms on top, and a little bit of roasted garlic for good measure, the pie went into the oven. Finished with some fresh grounded pepper, and it was quite the treat, especially paired with a nice Chianti...or beer, if you like that kind of thing.

Funky Cheese pie with beer braised mushrooms

2 Portabella mushroom caps

1 bottle Irish Stout

1 tsp miso

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp lactic acid (optional)

3 cloves roasted garlic (wrapped in foil,roasted @400 for 20min)

1 small scamorza

1/4lb sharp provolone

In a pyrex, mix the beer, miso, salt, and acid. Add mushroom caps, cover in foil and braise at 350 for 30 min. Remove from oven. Allow to cool. Chop into chunks.

Top the rolled out dough with sliced scamorza, provolone, braised mushrooms, and roasted garlic. Bake pizza at 500+ for 7-8 min.

Remove from oven, top with a generous amount of fresh cracked pepper. Enjoy.

-E

Note: A much delayed post. I apologize for the delay (sorry Ashley).

A quick peak across all the pies that we have laid down here on Bottomless Pie, and you might notice the absence of a partial popular pizza ingredient. It's a red ingredient. It's not pepperoni.

Tomatoes!

In the past, we've steered clear of red pies for Ash's sake, she has a bit of an acidic stomach, but as a pizza blog we couldn't avoid them forever, so I told Ash to breakout the tums, I'm buying a can of tomatoes!

With my can of tomatoes in tow, I took it upon myself to whip up this super simple, packed with flavor twist on a classic. 

Good things that go with tomatoes? Garlic.  And Wine. Lots of wine. So that is what I did. I took the tomatoes, squeezed out the liquid, and in a bowl mixed them with wine, salt, and about two cloves of garlic. 


Take the rolled out dough and a shmear of sauce, some thin slices of fresh mozza (less is more, I'm reluctantly learning), some thinly sliced fennel, and a driz of olive oil later, that's all she wrote...

Until it comes out of the oven, that is.  I finished the pie with a sprinkle of salted capers. And boy is that the hidden hero of this pie. The joy of biting into a salted caper in the middle of enjoying creaminess of the mozza, the herbal licorice zing of the fennel, and classic pairing of tomatoes and wine is quite other worldly. I recommend you try it some time.

Wine Margarita Pie

1 can San Marzano whole tomatoes

1 cup red wine

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp salt

1 bulb fennel

4 oz fresh mozzarella

some olive oil

1 tbsp salted capers

Take each tomato and carefully squeeze! (they will squirt!) out most of the liquid. Roughly dice the tomatoes, dice the garlic, and mix in a bowl with the wine and the salt.

Spread some sauce on the dough, top with mozzarella, thinly sliced fennel. Drizzle with olive oil.  Bake at 500+ degrees for 5-7 min. Remove from oven. Immediately top with capers and serve.

-E

    A few weeks ago my two wonderful friends came to visit New York.  We discussed options of things to do and ended up deciding on an evening at my apartment making pie and hanging out.  Growing up sometimes means growing apart physically so it's always nice to catch up with old friends over some slices in the quiet of your home.  Also, Erich and I never miss an opportunity to lay down some pies for our friends to get some feedback.  I am sure if Erich were writing this he would replace feedback with praise in the last sentence.  I'm a bit more modest.  A mutual friend also accompanied our dinner, which is why the title of this post is called "A Trio of Pies, for a Trio of friends."

   For the first pie, I used the base recipe from the previous post, and then added finely sliced sweet potatoes and a touch of rosemary. Delish!

   For the second pie, Erich whipped up his Wine Margherita with salted capers pie.  Recipe coming soon.

   Lastly, Pam had requested we use figs and goat cheese for a pie. (See picture above)

Figgy Pie

4 black mission figs sliced

one large onion (we used red)

mozzarella 

2-4 tbsp. goat cheese

1 tsp. chopped rosemary

olive oil

salt and pepper

Balsamic Drizzle

1/4 c. balsamic

1 tsp. sugar

    First caramelize the onions for about thirty minutes or until they appear soft and brown.  Jam like.  Next  top your pie, and begin to reduce your balsamic for a few minutes before placing the pizza in the oven and then continue until the pie is finished baking.  Once the pie is finished, drizzle the balsamic.  The balsamic should have reduced to the consistency of chocolate syrup.  There will not be much to use, but you only need a little bit.  Manga! Manga!

Check back soon for Erich's Wine Margherita Pie!

     It's a bit funny that our first pie as a newly engaged couple turned out to be a white pie.  I had been planning to make this pie for a while, but life has been a bit of a whirlwind these past few months to say the least.  Not sure if it was the wintry weather, or the need for simplicity or the subconcious wedding thoughts at the back of my mind that compelled me to make this.  All I know is it's delicious and pretty easy to make.  

White Pie with Thyme Oil

Pie Ingrediants

1 dough

1/2 c. ricotta

1/4 c. pecorino

mozzarella

1/2 of a roasted head of garlic

salt and pepper

Thyme oil

A few thyme stalks

2-4Tbsps. olive oil

salt

   First roast a head of garlic in the oven for around 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees or until the garlic is soft to the touch and looks caramelized.  In case you are unfamiliar with roasting garlic, chop the head off so you can see the raw garlic cloves.  Season with salt and pepper, and then drizzle a bit of olive oil on the open area.  Cover in tin foil.  Roast it up.  While the garlic is roasting make the thyme oil.  Simply add thyme, a pinch of salt and olive oil to a pan and simmer for a minute or two.  Remove the garlic from the oven, and mix in half the head of garlic with the ricotta and 2 Tbsps. of the thyme oil.  Smear the pie with the ricotta mixture, add small chunks or grated mozzarella, and then finish it off with the pecorino.  Bake in the oven at 550 for 7 minutes or until you see some brown bubble on the surface like the picture above.  Finish the pie with another drizzle of thyme oil, and sprinkle some of the thyme from the oil onto the surface of the pie.  Beware, you will be salvating impatiently as you wait for this pie to finish as the garlic ricotta mixture bake and infuse your kitchen.  You're definitely going to want to make this pie over and over again.  The recipe also makes a great base for other great pies as well.  Tonight I will be having a few friends over for pie and I will be using this recipe as the base for one of the pies.  Post coming soon!

Have a wonderfully delicious weekend!

-ash

    Last year for either my birthday or Christmas my best friend gifted me with a wonderful little cookbook called Super Natural Every Day, by Heidi Swanson.  Heidi is the creative behind 101 Cook Books blog, which my friend (a vegetarian/pescetarian) and I are huge fans of.  Her recipes utilize oils, grains, vegetables, and herbs I would never think of using to create something satiating and healthy.  If I ever decided to make the leap and become a full time vegetarian, I could probably do so because of her book and blog.  Her recipes leave you feeling satiated in the way you would had you grilled up some steaks for dinner, but without the guilt or listless feeling that comes after devouring red meat.

    

    Since moving in with a meatatarian, I find myself using this book more and more.  When Erich and I first started dating, it seemed like bacon was the go to ingredient for any dish....  The first pie (fruit pie) we made together had a bacon lattice crust on top and a lard crust on the bottom.  Sure there were apples inside, but a slice was sure to lead any healthy being into cardiac arrest or a food coma if they were lucky.  I knew I had my work cut out for me from that point on, which brings me to Heidi's Kale Salad recipe from her cookbook that inspired this pie.  I made the Kale Salad to take for lunch one week, and I couldn't believe how such a simple recipe could taste so amazing!  Then I thought, this would make an excellent pie!  So I made one for my lady friends and they were gushing over it so I knew I had to whip one up for Erich and share it with all of you!  

Coconut and Kale Pie

Toppings

1-2 c. chopped kale, stems removed

1/3 cup unsweetened coconut

Bufala Mozzarella

Handful of Pecorino

salt & pepper

Dressing

1 Tbsp. coconut oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

1 Tbsp.soy sauce

  Toss all of the ingredients for the toppings except the cheese, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Combine with the dressing, and set aside.  Pre bake the pizza dough with a little olive oil for about 2-3 minutes.  Then place the toppings on the pie and insert back into the oven for another 5-7 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, and mangia mangia!

It being so cold out, Ashley and I have been going heavy on the hearty: hearty soups, hearty sandwiches, hearty pasta. So when it became my turn to concoct our next pie creation, I decided to keep with the theme, and whip up a pie that would stick to our ribs. To give myself a challenge however, I was determined to whip up a pie that was warming, gooey, and satiating on the inside, but wasn't covered in grease, and still maintained the crunchy integrity of the crust. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Spinach Béchamel Pie with Artichokes.

The béchamel sauce mixed with garlic sautéed spinach, and a generous handful of grated pecorino, makes a great base for the artichoke hearts (crisped up nicely in a skillet), mushrooms, and of course some nice chunks of mozzarella. It's gooey, it's warming, it tastes like salt and cheese and cream, yet the spinach and the artichokes keep everything balanced and interesting, and help you to get through more then just a few bites before the cheese makes you cry "uncle!" Damn good winter eatin' for sure.

Spinach Bechamel Pie

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp flour
3/4 c grated pecorino
1 c milk
2 cloves garlic
2 handfuls fresh baby spinach
4 oz fresh mozzarella
1 can artichoke hearts, drained
1/2 c chopped shitake mushrooms
1 dough
salt and pepper to taste

For the Béchamel, dice garlic, sauté in pan with 1 tbsp olive oil until fragrant. Add the spinach, and sauté until it wilts and turns bright green (about 5 min). Remove from heat, set aside. In a fresh skillet over medium-low, add 1 tbsp olive oil. When hot, whisk in the flour little by little until it thickens. Remove from heat, whisk in the milk little by little, until smooth.  Return to heat, whisk as it cooks (it will get thicker and thicker). Add pecorino after about 3 min, whisking until incorporated, and smooth. Remove from heat, stir in spinach.

For pizza, preheat oven to 500 (or higher if you can), roll out dough. Top with thinnish layer of béchamel, sautéed Artichoke hearts, sautéed mushrooms, and mozzarella, bake until golden brown. Salt and pepper to taste.

Damn!

    With an abundance of dill and basil on hand, I blended up a quick pesto, which led me to thinking what am I going to do with this mostly dill pesto?  Eggs could be nice....Eggs on a pizza with dill could be real nice....Leftover salted pork....done and done!

    This pie is wonderful and probably one of the best pies you will ever have.  I am usually a modest person for those of you who may be reading this blog and not know me very well.  It's just that good simply because A) it tastes AMAZING and B) because you can eat it anytime you want without feeling like you're an animal eating pizza at 9:00 in the morning.

  

 

Load it up.

 Crack dem eggs.

Missing egg, but still a winner.

  

Champion slice!

Dill Cream

(Sorry didn't measure this one.)

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. sour cream

1/2 c.-3/4c. loose dill

1/4 c.-1/2c. basil

2 garlic cloves

juice of 1 lime or lemon (I used lime)

salt and pepper

Pie

1 dough

2 eggs

1/2 c. salted pork chopped into 1/2" cubes

mozzarella &parmesan

handful of fresh spinach

    Blend all of the ingrediants except for the sour cream in a food processor about a minute.  Then fold in the sour cream into the mixture, either by hand or pulse a few times in the food processor.  Set aside.  Next prepare the salted pork by cutting it into 1/2" cubes and tossing it in a pan until the cubes shrink about 50%.   Once those two step are finished, it's time to roll out the dough.  I would suggest pre-cooking the crust with a splash of olive oil for about 2- 3 minutes and then adding the toppings.  Smear the pesto, then add cheese eggs and pork.  Bake for another 6 to 7 minutes, or until the egg white is pale white.  If you add the eggs too early in the game you will not achieve a runny egg and char on your crust, and frankly you want both.  We forgot this step, but luckily the pie still tasted killer.  Once it's cooked take a spoon smear the egg yolk over the entire crust.  Eat!!!!!