This recipe for a Kale Pie is in no way shape or form a vintage recipe–unless maybe it’s forebears came from Italy a couple hundred years ago.
Kale pie closeup
I will chalk up my fascination with things in pie crust to my English ancestors who tended to pile all kinds of savory meals into pie crust. That, and the fact that I almost always have some Perfect Pie Dough in my freezer.
Of course, besides being obsessive about baking pies, I am very interested in how fashions in foods change. Do you remember when quiche appeared in our lives? Not all that long ago (unless you had run into it in Switzerland, as our family had in the early 80s.). But when quiche arrived on menus across America, you would not find kale on those same menus. Now kale is the “in” vegetable, and I even grow it in my back yard. By the way, it is incredibly easy to grow, so if you use it, try growing your own.
Russian Kale in its pot on my patio. (That’s a tomato plant peeking out behind the kale.)
Some time ago, I came across a recipe in my favorite cookbook, Joy of Cooking (the edition that Ethan Becker modernized in 1997). The recipe is called Chard Tart and other than the fact that it has greens and eggs and cheese in a pie crust doesn’t really taste like my Kale Pie. But when I found the recipe, I didn’t have any chard. I had kale, and was just beginning to figure out how to use it. So I thought, if it works this way, it would certainly work to add kale to a quiche recipe.
So, I took the quiche recipe which I have made many times with various additions, and substituted parmesan cheese for the swiss cheese, bacon for the ham, and Voila–Kale Pie.
Kale Pie
Print recipe
| Serves | 8 |
| Prep time | 15 minutes |
| Cook time | 30 minutes |
| Total time | 45 minutes |
| Allergy | Egg, Milk, Wheat |
| Meal type | Lunch, Main Dish |
| Misc | Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold, Serve Hot |
Ingredients
- 3 Strips of bacon (Cut in 1-inch pieces)
- 4 eggs
- 1 /2 cup 1/2 and 1/2
- 1/2lb kale leaves (rib removed, chopped or torn in small pieces)
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup grated cheese (Parmesan or Mixed Italian cheeses)
- 1 9" pie shell, unbaked.
Directions
| 1. | Fry bacon and drain on paper towel. (Save grease for future cooking.) |
| 2. | After deveining and tearing or cutting kale in smaller pieces, scatter on the bottom of the pie shell. |
| 3. | Beat the eggs with 1/2 and 1/2 and seasoning. |
| 4. | Pour egg mixture over kale. Sprinkle gated parmesan over top. |
| 5. | Bake at 375 degrees, until filling is set--about 25 to 35 minutes. |
Note
Serve Kale Pie hot or cold with salad for light dinner.
It’s hard to believe our hardy pioneer ancestors could have survived all those challenges and tribulations on a diet of kale quiche. (What? No tofu turkey?) But was glad to see your recipe was fortified by the much- maligned and loved bacon. Go double on the bacon and deep-fry the whole thing, and I might try it and then go out and chop down some trees and build a cabin or two.
Ha ha! I think I clarified that our tastes change, and this is NOT a vintage recipe. Do you think you would really like to live on their diet? Trade your imported Scotch for hard cider? And by the way–I have NEVER seen a deep-fried anything in the vintage cookbooks. They boiled–overcooked vegetables,overcooked meats, rarely fresh vegetables. Good grief, the didn’t even have peanut butter!
Well, now, that looks tasty! I love kale! Thanks for sharing this recipe. 🙂
You are most welcome, Nancy.
Last night I made kale pasties for supper. Didn’t realize I was channeling you and the ancestors
Well, I don’t think the ancestors did quiche. Particularly the Welch ones, may have done Pasties–but Kale wasn’t a “thing”. You were definitely on my wavelength, though.