Cauliflower Pie

Dough

1. Homemade cauliflower pie is delicious on its own and also with a first course. It’s easy to make: the filling needs very little prep, and the simple dough comes together quickly. Buy a small head of cauliflower with white florets.

   

   The filling is best with fried onion and, if you like, fresh chili.

2. Make the dough. First make the dough. It’s easiest to mix it with a stand mixer and dough hooks. For a 26–28 cm pan you need 2 cups of sifted flour (260 g). Add a pinch of fine salt, one egg and 50 g of melted (but not hot) butter to the flour. Knead the dough, adjusting its consistency with small amounts of water. It shouldn’t stick to your hands, but it should be very soft and stretchy. If you like, you can use your favorite plain dough instead.

   

Filling

1. Break up and blanch the cauliflower. Heat 2–3 l of water in a pot and add 0.5 tsp salt (3 g). While the water heats, break the head of cauliflower into florets. Cut the florets off with a sharp knife, leaving a short stem. The rest of the head can go into a vegetable stock – it’s great for risotto. Put the cauliflower “flowers” into the boiling water and cook for 2–3 mins. Then cool them under cold water and let them drain well.

   

2. Fry the onion and pepper and add the cauliflower. Peel the onion and the hot pepper, if you’re using it. Cut the onion into thick strips and the seeded chili into small slices. Heat 1 tbsp butter in a frying pan and fry the onion and pepper over medium heat until soft and lightly golden. By the way, the onion can make up as much as half of the filling – the pie will taste better for it. Add all the blanched cauliflower, salt it lightly and add 0.5 tsp sweet paprika. Fry the cauliflower with the onion until the paprika colors it.

   

Assembling and baking

1. Put the dough in the pan and spread the filling. Grease the baking pan or line it with paper. Divide the dough into two parts – one third and two thirds. Press the larger part into the pan, forming a rim about 4 cm high. Try to keep the dough an even thickness. Spread the fried onion with chili and the cauliflower over the dough in the pan. Since the florets are quite large, the surface of the filling will be bumpy and uneven. Sprinkle the filling with 1 tsp flour (3 g).

   

2. Top with a dough lattice and put in the oven. Roll the remaining third of the dough into a sheet 5 mm thick and cut it into strips of any width. Make a lattice of dough strips over the filling; you can simply pinch the edges. Brush the whole surface with egg yolk. Preheat the oven to 180–190 °C and put the pie in.

   

3. Bake the pie. With this much filling, baking can take from 45 mins to an hour; go by doneness and how brown the top of the pie gets. The filling is fairly raw going in, nothing will happen to it, but you shouldn’t overbake the dough. Take the finished pie out of the oven and let it cool.

   

Serving

1. Remove the pie from the pan and slice it. Take the pie out of the pan and move it to a large plate or serving board – it looks like a thick pizza, so a pizza board works well. Cut the pie into pieces with a sharp knife and put them on plates. It’s best served slightly warm, not hot. There’s no need to reheat it; it’s better to bake a fresh one.

   

   If you like, add sweet pepper to the filling, frying it with the onion. Garlic and thyme also work nicely if you want them. Cauliflower with fried mushrooms makes an excellent filling too. If you make the open version, instead of a dough lattice you can top the pie with a cheese crust – Emmental or cheddar works well.