I have to say Rachael Ray inspired me on this dish. Her easy and friendly style encourages me to get my butt in the kitchen and make something. I call this dish the Potato Cheese Stuff. Now let me tell you how it all came to be...
I was watching an episode of 30 Minute Meals just before Christmas and Rachael Ray was making this yummy pastry dish with loads of cheese and meat. I'm not a fan of the meat part but the oodles of cheese and golden crust really got me. So I decided to make my own version of the dish - vegetarian style. I've been having this urge to stuff something into a pastry crust for a while now so this was like the final push to move me to action. And the results for this dish were astonishing, my little brothers kept asking for more and called me a good cook (this doesn't happen in my corner of the world because most of the time my "cooking" is considered making a bowl of cereal - so those compliments are big news).
So here's the recipe for the simple yet satisfying meal...
Ingredients:
*About 5-6 potatos (depending on how big you get them)
*A small box of store brand frozen spinach (you can use fresh if you want)
*A bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or your fav cheese...it's your dish)
*One package of pie crust (the kind that rolls out and has two rolls)
*Fresh crushed pepper
*A fresh tomato
*Butter (or I used some I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spread)
*A fresh onion (1/2)
*Sour cream
Directions:
Set your pie crust out so it will be a room tempature. Pre-heat oven to time mentioned on pie crust package. Peal your potatoes and cut them into medium sizes pieces. Boil some water and drop your potatoes in. Put your spinach package into a skillet and cover under medium heat. Chop up your onions and put them to the side. Once your pototoes are done, drain the water and put some butter in (up to a half of a stick depending on your tastebuds). Take a big spoon and mush the pototoes up, you want to leave some chunks. Once your spinach is done drain as much liquid from it that you can (I used a paper towel to get some of the excess liquid off). Put spinach to the side. Now, put your onions in the same pan the spinach was in and add a couple teaspoons of butter. You want to caramelize the onions. Once onions are caramelized then dump them into the potatoes and fold them in.
Unfold your pie crusts and put them on a baking sheet. Put a layer of thick shredded sharp cheddar cheese at the bottom (you want to center this in the middle so the crust will fold over it easily). Then a layer of potatoes. Then a layer of spinach. And finally another thick layer of cheese. Close up the pastry, make sure its nicely sealed and cut about four or five splits on the top for ventilation like such:
Now put your gorgeous dish into the oven (bottom rack) for the time the pie crust package says it takes and walaa...you've got yourself a super YUMMY mucho CHEESY meal!! As far a plating goes you can follow the design below (diced tomatos, fresh crushed pepper on top and soar cream with cheese on the side) or bring your own creativeness to the dish...the bottom line is to enjoy making and eating the food.
A hat tip goes to my little sister for plating this fabulous dish and the photos. I cooked it and she made it look pretty, which is a BIG part of the eating experience. Our eyes tell our brains how good the food is going to be before the food has a chance to touch our mouths.
Happy Eating!!
