So this week’s cooking effort – well last Saturday’s, but I’ve been away for a few days – was a Torta Milanese. Presumably even those of us with no Italian skills can work out what that means? But a feature if it is the inclusion of sliced boiled eggs atop what it is already a fairly substantial pie. The recipe is in the extended part of this entry – click ‘more’ to see it.
It’s the second time I’ve made it, and this time I decided to do the roasted peppers myself. But it adds about 20 minutes to the process and is really not worth the bother – better off buying a jar of the things from the supermarket.
This was one of those recipes that was better tasting the day after – but is very nice piping hot nonetheless – and in fact could be eaten stone cold if need be.
Maybe I’ll have to venture beyond the safety of my pie haven into something more adventurous this Saturday, we’ll see.
Torta Milanese
Prep 20 mins
Cook 45-60 mins Serves 4 to 6This is good hot or cold. You can save about 15 mins of the prep time by buying the roasted peppers in a jar, rather than doing them yourself.
1 large red bell pepper
3 tablespoons butter
1 10oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 tablespoon flour
¼ cup milk
½ cup mil
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ lb pound mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
6 fresh basil leaves, shredded, or 1 teaspoon, dried
2 (9″) frozen pie crusts, thawed
1½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 hardboiled eggs, sliced
2 tablespoons imitation bacon bits (optional)
1. Preheat grill/broiler. Set pepper on a small baking sheet and broil as close to heat as possible, turning occasionally, until it blisters all over, 6 to 8 minutes. Seal paper in a paper bag and let sit for 10 minutes, Peel and seed pepper under running water.
2. in a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add spinach and cook until hot, 2 to 3 mins. Sprinkle on flour and cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Add mile, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens slightly, 3 to 4 mins. Remove from heat.
3. IN a large frying pan, heat olive oil. Add onions and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until beginning to color, 3 to 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until most of liquid evaporates, 4 to 5 minutes. Set aside.
4. To assemble torta, sprinkle Parmesan cheese and basil over bottom of 1 pie crust. Spread Spinach over cheese-covered crust. Sprinkle with half of mozzarella. Sprinkle bacon bits over cheese (if applicable). Cove evenly with onions and mushrooms. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Cover with hard-boiled eggs and top with roasted pepper strips. On a lightly floured surface, carefully invert other crust and roll out wide enough to cover bottom pie shell. Carefully cover torta with rolled-out pastry crust. Crimp bottom and top edges of torta and seal. Cut 4 slits in top crust.
5. Bake 25 to 20 minutes until torta is nice and brown. Let cool 10 minutes before cutting.