Potato Onion Broccoli Pie

For starters I will say that this is definitely a work in progress, but it will be something great in the future.

I got the idea to make a pie because I really wanted to make pastry dough now that I have a food processor. The recipe I have, first seen here, is designed for a food processor and having now done it, I can see why you’d want to use one. It’s so much faster. I’ll be posting the food processor directions for it because they are different than the by hand ones from last year. Still very tasty though.

I wanted to do a savory pie, for whatever reason, and was inspired by some of the pies in The New Moosewood Cookbook, like this one and this one. And because I have a food processor now (let me know if I’m getting too annoying with all my talk about it. I am in love though, what can I say?), slicing potatoes is a cinch. I love it.

Also, remember how just after I got my fancy new machine, Aaron and I pureed an onion? That inspired this too. Again, work in progress. There is too much onion in this pie by far. Anyway, this is what I did.

Potato Onion Broccoli Pie:

Serves 4-6, depending on if served as entrée or appetizer

1½ c, flour
¼ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. baking powder
8 Tb. unsalted butter, cut in ½" pieces and kept well chilled
2 Tb. vegetable shortening , well chilled
2- 4 Tb. ice water
One large potato
Three heads of broccoli
Puree of one onion
1-2 c. grated white cheddar cheese
½ c. grated Parmesan
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

Make the pastry dough first. Insert the metal blade. Process the flour, salt, and baking powder to sift, 10 seconds. Add the well chilled butter and vegetable shortening. Use short rapid pulses (15-20) until the mixture resembles coarse corn meal and no pieces of butter are larger than a pea remain visible. Sprinkle half the maximum ice water on the flour and butter mixture, then pulse 5-6 times. The dough will be crumbly, but should begin to hold together when a small amount is picked up and pressed together. Sprinkle on more water, a teaspoon at a time, with 2-3 quick pulses after each addition, adding enough water for the dough to hold together easily when pressed into a ball. Add the liquid sparingly so the dough is not sticky. Do not overprocess or the pastry will be tough, not tender and flaky.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Press together into a ball, then flatten into a disc about 6 inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour before continuing to allow the gluten in the flour to rest. Thaw at room temperature for an hour before using.



While waiting for your dough to thaw, slice a potato super thin (go food processor!) and dice up three heads of broccoli. Make them into as small of pieces as possible. Guess what I used.







Heat oven to 350. This is what I did, not what I should have done. Roll out your dough and press into a pie pan. Spread half of the onion puree on the bottom. Place the potato slices into a pretty pattern or just layer them until they cover the bottom of the crust. Add about half of the broccoli and then sprinkle with a bunch of cheese. I mixed my cheeses together, but it got a little clumpy, so I wouldn’t do that in the future. Repeat pattern. Top pie with remaining potato slices, chopped garlic, and a bit more cheese.

Bake for 40 minutes at 350. I then took it out and it was not done yet. So I turned the oven up to 375 and baked it for about 5-7 minutes more. It was much better.





Let it cool a bit before serving. Add more parmesan if desired.

This was a pretty good idea and didn’t taste terrible, but it had way, way, way too much onion. I also think, surprise, surprise, not enough cheese was involved. Next time I would still mix in some cheese, but also cover the top to give it a crispy, cheesy crust. And yeah, less onion. It was overpowering. And more garlic.

This pie has a lot of potential in it. I’ll be updating when I make the next version.