quick curried peanut sauce for many veggies
chop one medium yellow sweet onion, and smash, peel, and mince a few cloves of garlic. Peel and mince a half inch of fresh ginger.
sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil until the onions are translucent. Stir in the ginger along with a teaspoon of curry powder and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Stir in about three teaspoons of sesame oil and three tablespoons of Braggs or tamari sauce.
glop in a cup of peanut butter, and whisk in boiling hot water in a thin stream to bring the mixture to a saucey consistency.
prepare the veggies of your choice: fairy tale eggplant sliced in half and roasted; purple potatoes halved, par boiled and fried; steamed baby artichokes; bell pepper and broccoli sauté; string beans. What’s in season?
broccoli rabe quiche
- butter
- all purpose flour
- cornmeal
- ice water
The filling:
Crust
be not afraid! Remember – the freezer will help you make yummy, foolproof pastry. Cut up 6 tablespoons of butter then stash the butter bits in the freezer for a few minutes.
combine the cold fat with 3/4 cup all purpose flour sifted together with 3/4 cup cornmeal (there will be some grit but just dump that in, you aren’t trying to get rid of it, just fluff the dry stuff). If you have a food processor, you can whir this all together until it is crumbly, like soft gravel (about four bursts should do it). If not, then you can use a pastry cutter, two forks, two knives, or your hands (which is what I do and prefer).
work the dough with your fingers, freeze it for a few more moments, then use a wooden spoon to stir in just enough water so the dough holds together. See also the directions for the pastry pockets given before.
pat out your pie dough into a flat circle and roll it to form a crust. Lay it into a 9- or 10- inch pie pan (or a cast iron skillet).
Pie
heat your oven to 375.
clean about ½ a bunch of broccoli rabe, enough to fill a large skillet heaping full. Green, leafy things tend to cook down more than you would expect, but you only need enough rabe to make a layer in the pie. Heat a heavy skillet on the stove top, and add a tablespoon or two of butter. Sauté the rabe until bright green and nearly tender – maybe 8 minutes. While the greens are cooking, grate a whole lemon so the zest falls into the pan then squeeze each lemon half, adding the juice to the greens. I do a sort of squeeze and flick number, squeezing the lemon half a little then shaking the about-to-escape seeds into the sink.
grate about ½ a cup worth of pecorino cheese, and spread it over the bottom of the pie. While you are prepping, crush a handful of pine nuts, maybe with a bit of sea salt.
whisk together 4 eggs, 1 cup of ricotta cheese, and 3 tablespoons of flour. Spread the broccoli rabe over the cheese, pour the egg mixture over the rabe layer, then top with the crushed pine nuts and a generous sprinkling of paprika.
bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until solid in the center. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
