You asked for it

By ANNE LONG

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 20, 2001

Spinach cheese pie simple and delicious

Pat Cestaro asked for the recipe for spinach cheese pie made with ricotta. Pat took this favorite recipe from Polly-O on vacation and misplaced it. Fortunately, several readers had the recipe in their files and sent it for Pat. Combine thawed chopped spinach with Parmesan cheese, ricotta and eggs. Turn into an unbaked pie shell and bake. Serve hot or cold. For variety, you can add ham, prosciutto or crumbled bacon.

If you like to prepare this dish from "scratch," try Nancy Eggert's recipe. Saute onion and cook with fresh spinach. Mix this with the remaining ingredients; top with sour cream and bake. This will serve 4 to 6 happy diners.

Spinach and ricotta blend well with other ingredients, as this recipe from Joseph King attests. Cooked orzo forms the crust and spaghetti sauce and mozzarella round out the list for a very tasty dish.

If asked about a favorite dessert, many families will name bread pudding among fond memories. Barbara Marino shares her recipe along with one for vanilla sauce.

For: Pat Cestaro of Spring Hill.

From: Eileen Rambo of Floral City and Connie From of Ocala.

Recipe: Spinach cheese pie, from Polly-O Cooking with Cheese Cookbook. Connie writes that she paid $2 for her copy more than 30 years ago.

Spinach Cheese Pie

1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach

1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

1 2-pound container ricotta

3 eggs

1/8 teaspoon ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 8-inch pie crust shell

Thaw spinach and drain thoroughly, but do not cook. Combine spinach with next five ingredients and mix well. Turn mixture into pie crust and bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes or until set in center. Serve hot or cold. Makes 6 servings.

Diced ham, prosciutto or crumbled bacon may be added to spinach mixture.

From: Nancy Eggert of Dunedin.

Recipe: Spinach-ricotta pie, from The Moosewood Cook Book.

Spinach-Ricotta Pie

Crust:

6 tablespoons butter or margarine, cut into small pieces

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

About 4 tablespoons cold water, milk or buttermilk. (Nancy likes to use buttermilk.)

Filling:

1 teaspoon butter

1 cup minced white onion

1 pound spinach, stemmed and finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 1-pound carton ricotta

2-3 beaten eggs

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (packed) grated sharp cheese of your choice

Dash of ground nutmeg

Optional topping:

1 cup sour cream (may be low fat), lightly beaten (Nancy writes "Yes!")

Paprika

Use a pastry cutter, two forks, or a food processor to cut together the butter and flour until the mixture is uniformly blended and resembles coarse cornmeal. (The food processor will do this in just a few spurts.)

Add just enough liquid (water, milk or buttermilk) to hold the dough together. Roll out the dough and form a crust in a 9- or 10-inch pie pan. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium skillet, add the onion, and saute for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add spinach, salt, pepper and basil and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until the spinach is wilted. Remove from heat.

Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl, and mix well. Spread into the unbaked pie shell. For an extra rich pie, top with sour cream, spread to the edges of the crust. Dust generously with paprika.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes, or until firm to the touch at the center. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

From: Joseph King of Hudson.

Recipe: Spinach and orzo pie.

Spinach and Orzo Pie

3 cups cooked orzo (about 1 1/2 cups uncooked)

2 beaten eggs

1 15 1/2-ounce jar chunky spaghetti sauce, divided

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach

1/2 cup ricotta

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Combine cooked orzo and eggs, 1/2-cup sauce and Parmesan cheese. Spread in a greased 9-inch pie plate to form a crust.

Cook spinach and drain (Joseph does not cook spinach, but thaws and drains). Stir together spinach, ricotta and nutmeg and spoon into pasta-lined pie plate. Spread remaining spaghetti sauce on top. Cover edge with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove, top with shredded cheese and return to oven to melt cheese. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

For: Phyllis Kirchner of Largo.

From: Barbara Marino of Seminole.

Recipe: Bread and butter pudding.

Bread and Butter Pudding

Butter, softened

7 slices good quality white bread

1 quart milk

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup raisins

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

Spread a generous amount of butter on one side of each slice of bread and line the bottom and sides of a buttered 2-quart baking dish with the bread.

Mix together the milk, eggs, sugar, salt, raisins, vanilla and cinnamon; pour over the bread. Place any extra pieces of bread on top and press down so they are submerged. Let stand about 10 minutes, a little longer if the bread is particularly dry.

Bake, covered, at 325 degrees for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for 30 minutes more. If you like a little crustier brown top, slip the dish under the broiler a few minutes until deep golden. Serve warm with heavy cream or vanilla sauce.

Simple Vanilla Sauce

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

2/3 cup white corn syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in top of double boiler; add the milk and blend until smooth. Cook over slowly simmering water, stirring constantly until sauce boils and thickens. Remove from heat and stir in syrup, vanilla and butter. Serve warm as a sauce for bread pudding or as topping for a slice of pound cake or other dessert.

Recipe requests

Linda Sheridan of Spring Hill is looking for the recipe for a "from scratch" chocolate cake that begins with a cream cheese frosting. Half of the frosting is then incorporated into the cake batter. It is a rich, certainly moist and delicious cake and the recipe may have had its origin in Pennsylvania about 20 years ago. Linda's second request is a recipe for white baked beans.

- You Asked For It is a reader mail column. If you have a cooking question or the answer to someone else's question, write to You Asked For It, the St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. Be sure to include your full name, city and phone number with your letter. Letters without this information will be discarded. Requests cannot be answered by phone or mail.

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