We had a frozen pie crust left over from Christmas brunch, several eggs that needed using, as well as a bunch of ricotta that I overbought the last time we made lasagna.  If you follow this blog, you probably know how much I don’t like to waste things. So, I decided to make use of all these things in an easy weeknight meal.

Ingredients:

• 9″ pie crust
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 box frozen spinach, thawed & sqeezed dry
• 1/2 can or jar of marinated artichoke hearts
• 1 tsp thyme or basil (or 1/2 tsp of both)
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• 15 oz part-skim ricotta
• 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup mozzarella

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350’F.
2. Sauté onion in a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil until translucent (about 5 mins). Toss in the spinach, artichokes, thyme & red pepper flakes, stirring frequently for a minute or two. Set aside to cool.

   

3. Line a 9″ pie pan with the crust.
4. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs then add both cheeses and stir until well incorporated. Add cooled veggies to the cheese mixture, add 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper, then stir to combine before pouring into unbaked crust.
5. Bake for 20 mins then top with mozzarella and cover the edges of the crust and bake another 20 mins. This’ll help keep the edges from burning.  Let cool about 10 mins after you take it out before cutting and serving.

The buttery, flaky crust certainly added a comforting savory taste to the dish. It also turned out to be the perfect vehicle to deliver the creamy, tangy, veggie-filled goodness inside the pie.  Even better was having it for breakfast later that weekend at work.  It’s a pretty versatile dish, being that you could serve it any time of day, really.  Also, I imagine it would be outstanding if next time I added olives and/or sun-dried tomatoes.  Better yet, maybe I’ll top it with leftover marinara.  This’ll definitely be a recipe I keep at the ready.

What have you made using leftover ingredients?