Beet Top Pie

Here's the pie I said I was going to make. I thought about making it like a real pie, in a pie pan and everything, and then I decided that just folding it up in the crust would make it easier to eat.

You need a recipe of pie crust. I like a mix of whole wheat and AP flour; it's crunchier. Also:

One bunch of beet tops, a big one
about 8 mushrooms, chopped
a big clove of garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons of fresh minced oregano
3 minced green onions
salt, pepper, olive oil
4 oz havarti, grated, or cut into little pieces
3 eggs

Mix up your crust as usual. I do the dry ingredients and the butter up and then leave it in the fridge until about an hour before I want to use it. This allows me to be more disorganized on the day-of.

Pre-heat your oven to 450.

Wash the beet tops; separate the stems from the leaves. Cut the stems into 1" pieces and coarsely chop the leaves. Saute the stems in a medium-hot pan with a little oil and a pinch of salt. When they start to sweat well, add the chopped leaves. Sprinkle on a little more salt, and some oil if it's sticking. They will cook down quite a lot, surprisingly so. Once they loose at least half their volume, throw in the mushrooms, onions, garlic and oregano, along with a good shake of pepper. Let it cook down until the leaves are quite soft, and there is only a little bit of liquid left in the pan. Remove from heat and let the mix cool to room temperature. Once it has cooled, add the eggs and cheese, and maybe a bit more salt and pepper if needed.

Roll out the crust, dump in the filling, fold it up and bake it for about 35 -40 minutes.

Some pointers: let it cool before eating it. Yes, very difficult, but worthwhile. This thing is a bit sloshy, the middle will run out if you cut it hot.

Havarti is very gummy. I cut thin-ish slices, then cut them into little matchsticks rather than smearing cheese all over my grater which is frustrating and inaesthetic.

Because there is quite a bit of liquid in the raw pie mix, I used my springform pan ring to help fold the piecrust. I put the ring down on the baking pan, gently eased the crust into the ring and let the excess crust drape over the outside while I poured in the filling. Then I folded in the edges, released the ring , and ta-da! A neatly folded pie with no leaking.

If you have a convection oven, it may only need too cook for half as long, at about 400. All you need is for the eggs to set up.