Broccoli Pie a la Grecque

October 11, 2010 at 10:41 am (AMA, C (2 stars, okay, edible), Cruciferous rich, Necessarily nonvegan, unrated)

This is another new recipe from the AMA Family Health Cookbook.  I had a bunch of fresh mint and dill to use up, and went searching for a recipe.  This one, which combines broccoli, eggs, and cheese with fresh herbs and cubed bread, looked perfect.  

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (6 ounces) broccoli florets, coarsely chopped
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 cup low-fat (1%) milk
• 1.5 cups chopped scallions
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
• 3 Tbs. chopped fresh dill (or 2 tsp. dried)
• 2 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano (or 1 tsp. dried)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1.5 cups cubed French or Italian bread

Instructions:

1. Cook the broccoli in a pot of lightly salted boiling water until it is bright green and crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.  Drain into a colander, rinse under cold water, and let drain again.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and move the rack to the middle.  Lightly coat a 1.5 quart deep-dish pie plate or an 8×8-inch glass baking dish with olive oil.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, ricotta, and feta.  Whisk in the milk and add the scallions, mint, dill, oregano, salt, and pepper, stirring gently to combine.
4. Spoon the broccoli into the prepared dish in an even layer and arrange the bread cubes on top.  Pour in the custard mixture, stirring gently to distribute the ingredients, making sure the bread is soaked.  Bake, uncovered, until the custard is set and the top of the pie is flecked with brown, 20 to 30 minutes.

Makes 6 main-dish servings.  Per serving:  about 202 calories, 10g fat, 13g carbs, 2g fiber, and 15g protein.

My notes:

I really like the idea of this dish. It’s kind of like spanakopita, but you don’t have to futz with filo dough and it’s much less calorie dense.  But I was disappointed in how little broccoli actually goes in the dish (just 1/3 cup raw broccoli per person).

The texture was a bit odd–it was sort of likely eating soggy bread with cheese and broccoli surrounding it.  But maybe if I had gotten Italian or French bread like the recipe says, the texture would have been better.  I used some typical German bread, which I suspect was some kind of rye sourdough.  It didn’t really go with the Greek flavors at all.

Derek didn’t care for this dish.  He ate it but had no interest in the leftovers.  I had no problem finishing them off myself.

I might make this again if I have mint and dill that need to be used up.  But next time I’ll use a blander, firmer bread.