Friday, May 27, 2011

Breakfast Pie

I love breakfast. And I love pie. And I also love that it's socially acceptable to eat breakfast or pie for any meal of the day.

So this breakfast pie is basically awesomeness in pie form. Really. There's just no other way to describe it.


The original recipe called for bacon and an onion. As much as I love bacon, I really wasn't up to cooking bacon. So I bought Italian sausage and browned and crumbled that instead. I also bought the onion fully intending to use it, but completely forget it when I was cooking.

When I make this breakfast pie again, I'd like to try rolling the pie dough a little thinner. It was just a little too thick for my taste (that's what she said), and I felt like it still had somewhat of a raw flour taste. The Resident Taste Tester disagreed and seemed to like it as is.

I also think that some cheese would take this breakfast pie from awesomeness to orgasmic, but I leave that choice entirely up to you.

Also important to note, the cookbook that I used for this recipe is some wanky pastry cookbook with all the measurements and ingredients in British. Since none of us speak British, I have helpfully translated everything into English. You're welcome.


Breakfast Pie
adapted from Greatest-Ever Pastry Cookbook

For the Filling
2 tbsp oil
1 lb Italian sausage (mild or regular - your preference)
1 small onion, finely chopped (but no worries if you forget it)
5 eggs
salt and ground black pepper
a little milk, to glaze

For the Pastry
3 cups all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
3/4 cup butter, diced
5-6 tbsp chilled water

  1. For the pastry, combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Rub the butter into the mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over most of the water and mix to a pliable dough. Maybe it was me, but mine was super dry and I ended up adding extra water. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

  2. Butter an 8-inch pie pan. Roll out two-thirds of the pastry and use to line the pan. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

  3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in a pan and add the sausage. Cook and crumble with a spoon until browned and cooked through. Add the onion and cook 2-3 minutes.

  4. Cover the pie crust bottom with the cooked sausage and onion mixture. Break the eggs on top, spreading them evenly apart. Tilt the tin so the egg whites flow together. Season with salt and pepper.

  5. Roll out remaining pastry, dampen the edges and place over the pie. Roll over the top with a rolling pin to seal the edges and remove excess pastry. Carefully cut curved lines from the pie's center to within an inch of the edge. Glaze with milk (be liberal on this or else it won't brown as nicely).

  6. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes more.

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