Blogtoberfest Day 4: A New Style Pie

Yesterday's dinner was an exercise in creatively using what was in the house, in this case, a particularly large portion of feta cheese. While my sons will eat feta, they do not really like it! I thought that a "cheese pie" might be the answer. My mother grew up in England and Ireland where a pie is usually a deep dish savoury melange with a pastry crust or some other type of edible lid. These were made in a pie dish rather that a pie plate.

Recently I found most of a set of pie dishes at the thrift store. Online sources on backstamp information date these pie dishes to the late 1970's or 1980's, so they are not that old, but still considered vintage. These are very old design made by a company that is more known today for another traditional pottery, Cornish Ware.

In this case, I chose to make something completely untraditional for this sort of dish and came up with a crustless, vegetarian pie. Whether or not it can be called a pie is open to discussion. Worldwide, the idea of a pie covers many variations. This book by Janet Clarkson might suggest that it could be called a pie.


Spanikopita Pie
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp. dried dill
300 g frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
1/2 c. quinoa, well rinsed
1 c. water
1 1/2 c. to 2 c. feta
1 block of silken tofu, mashed

Preheat the oven to 350 or 325 in a convection oven.
Butter or oil the pie dish.
In a medium saucepan, saute the onions adding the garlic when the onions become translucent. Stir in the dill and remove from saucepan and set aside. Use the sauce pan to bring the water to a boil and add the quinoa. Simmer for about 10 minutes. When the quinoa is cooked, fluff with a fork and then add the defrosted and drained spinach along with the onion, garlic and dill mixture. Crumble in chunks of feta. Mash the tofu and fold into mixture. Transfer into the buttered pie dish and place in the oven for around an hour, uncovered.

Since a pie can be one of the thriftiest dishes in the kitchen and vintage, traditional pie dishes are a thrift store treasure, I am linking this post to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday