Eating Down the Fridge Meets Meatless Monday

Guest blogger and trained chef Bridget Rodewald files her EDF dispatch from Fort Worth, Tex., where she raises two children and runs Wellness Gourmet, a healthy eating/cooking enterprise.  She also gives a nod to Meatless Monday, with a recipe for winter squash pot pie.

Coming up Tuesday: A report from Syracuse, N.Y.

Photo by Bridget Rodewald.

When my family comes down with the flu, as they did over the weekend, I turn to Hippocrates’ philosophy of food as medicine. Within minutes both feverish children turned from not hungry to STARVING. It’s a funny thing how this phenomenon happens when I am in the midst of working on a food project of my own.

My task quickly became what could I make within the guidelines of the True/Slant Eating Down the Fridge challenge, that is child friendly comfort food and in 45 minutes or less. I recalled that partially used package of fillo dough that was begging to be used from over a month ago, possibly two.

With two professional chefs in the house, our pantry, fridge and freezer tend to get overrun quickly.  I have had a weekly demonstration at the local farmers market  over the last month,  so our produce inventory has grown immensely. There are times when we cannot reach juice cartons because of the produce onslaught. Just weeks ago, our local markets were not to see our faces due to a self-imposed EDF.

The first attempt at the challenge was a breeze, fun actually. The kiddos even got behind it with questions like, “So what’s it going to be tonight?” The experience reminded me of many mystery basket practical exams in culinary school similar to the competitions on Food Network’s Chopped series. Although I cannot say there is any less pressure when you are feeding the children of chefs; one likes to frequently give color commentary while using his fork as a microphone during dinner.

This EDF challenge I took on because we still have work to do on that pantry. My goal is to see the back wall in the pantry.  Seriously, what other family of four has six types of alternative flours, eight pounds of various dried beans, a basket filled with beautiful grains, and three boxes of Cheerios? The kids were less than excited this time around. After telling them we were scheduled to do the challenge again, one responded with, “I hope we have lettuce, all I want is salad.”

This time around, we do have lettuce (not much),  but there is this accumulation of produce. I imagine a week of vegetable stews, curries and stir-fries. But yesterday I needed a quick vegetarian comfort dish with fillo dough. Aha! Pot pie! Who doesn’t like it?

Pot pie is typically meat, gravy and vegetables encased in a flaky crust. Mine was filled with previously cooked delicata and acorn squashes, carrots, peas, celery, onions and gravy.   Pot pie’s gravy base is usually from animal drippings. As this was a vegetarian pot pie, the base came from the sautéed vegetables’ sweet caramelization.  The crust was made from fillo dough which gave it the perfect crunch and uniqueness my children love in food.

After devouring the pot pie, we settled down on the couch for a silly family movie, during which both sick children did what appeared to be an intermission, halftime dance-with-giggle fest. I interpreted that to mean they felt better because of the medicine found in their food.

Bridget’s Winter Squash Pot Pie
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, cut into small dice
2 carrots, cut into small dice
1 celery rib, cut into small dice
1 delicata winter squash, peeled, seeded and cut into small dice
1 acorn squash, peeled, seeded and cut into small dice
½ cup frozen peas
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup vegetable stock or water
1 cup milk
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon fresh parsley or chives, chopped fine (optional)
12 sheets fillo dough, thawed
Olive oil cooking spray

Method
Heat oven 350 degrees.

Filling
In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil until warm and add onion; cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add carrots and celery; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add squash and peas; cook until squash soften.

Sprinkle flour over vegetables and stir to coat; cook until nutty in aroma, about 2 minutes. Add stock and milk and quickly stir to incorporate so as to not form flour clumps.  Cook until squash are fork tender. Season with salt and white pepper. Add parsley or chives if using. Turn off heat and cool slightly.

Crust
In an 8-inch pie pan, spray olive oil on the bottom. Layer with a sheet of fillo, edges hanging over the pie pan and spray lightly with oil. Alternate the direction of the next layer and spray with oil; repeat until six sheets are stacked. Add filling. Top with four sheets of fillo built in the same fashion as the bottom crust. Roll all dough edges together to form a ridge around the edge of the pie pan. For the last two sheets, slightly crumple and place on top on the pie pan. Spray the whole pie with a thin spray of oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

NOTE: I use spray olive oil, feel free to brush on olive oil. I find that not only is spraying olive oil quicker, but also tears the fillo less often.