Egg & Vegetable Pie Italiano - The Garden of Eating

A few weeks ago I was approached by a lovely woman (Chef Rachel) about reviewing some cookbooks of hers. I agreed to try the recipes and she agreed to send me her books. Life has been hectic around here lately so I haven't had a chance to make anything but this recipe had jumped out at me due to all the herbs. We had them all in our garden so I could go out and pick them fresh for dinner tonight.

I was actually surprised that my picky son said that this was very good. My husband said it tasted like hot dogs. Not sure where he got that taste on his pallet but it must not have mattered because he took two slices. My ever fussy daughter....ate the herbs off the top and left the dense egg part on the bottom. I guess that's a 7 year old for you. The rest of us enjoyed dinner. It took me about 25 mins to prepare but that was including my trip to the garden for herbs so the estimate of 15 mins may be close to accurate.

You can tell I have been an insomniac lately. Too much Iron Chef watching. My husband laughed at my plate that I put together for my photo. Hey, presentation is everything. :)

A little about the cookbook this came from. It is called The Garden of Eating. It reminded me of a more user friendly Nourishing Traditions cookbook. Chef Rachel has added some great things like seasonal meal plans along with a few pages outlining what her typical eating menus are like. I loved that! Her food is very nutrient dense and includes good fats, grass fed meats and veggies. You can check out her website at http://www.thegardenofeatingdiet.com/.

So here's the recipe:

Egg & Vegetable Italiano

Extra Virgin olive oil, unrefined coconut oil, ghee or clarified butter to grease baking pan.

1 1/2 cups diced fresh tomatoes, or drained, canned diced no salt tomatoes, divided

1 Tbs dried parsley or chives or 1/2 cup washed, dried, minced fresh parsley leaves or chives.

1/4 cup dulse flakes or 1/2 cup dulse leaf or laver (wild nori) sea vegetable, sorted to remove small shells or stones and cut into tiny pieces with shears, optional (I did not add this)

6 medium to large free-range chicken eggs or duck eggs or 8 small eggs

1/2 cup dried, powdered egg whites

2 Tbs dried onion flakes

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp dried basil or 1 Tbs fresh basil leaves

1 tsp dried oregano or 1 Tbs fresh oregano leaves, stems removed

1/2 tsp dried thyme or 1/2 Tbs fresh thyme leaves, stems removed

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 tsp ground chipolte or black pepper

1/2 tsp Natural Liquid Hickory Smoke Seasoning such as Wright's, optional

1. Place rack in center of and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil a 10 inch deep dish pie plate or 9x9x2-inch baking pan. Scatter half the tomato and parsley or chives over bottom of the pie plate. Sprinkle with dulse if desired.
2. Combine reserved tomato and remaining ingredients in blender. Process until smooth and frothy, stopping to scrape sides with spatula. Do not over mix.
3. Pour egg mixture over vegetables in pie plate. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until puffy, firm in the center, and lightly golden on top. Cut into 8 slices and serve, or cool, cover and refrigerate for later. If desired, top each serving with 1/4 of a sliced avocado. Use within 4 days.

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