Channeling Martha.

At book club this past Tuesday, my friend Kate made an amazing corn and roast tomato pie with a homemade olive oil and sesame crust.  Turns out, that delicious crust was a Martha special…though the filling was all Kate!  For my first go-round, I tried to follow the recipe, copied and pasted from Martha Stewart’s website, below.  Of course, it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t make a few small tweaks…kale for the spinach, shredded gruyere for the feta, a bit more garlic and whole wheat flour.

Crust

• 1.5 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup water

Filling

• 1 large bag kale
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more for serving
• big handful shredded gruyere cheese
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• pinch salt
• sprinkle of sesame seeds

Directions

1. Crust: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk together flours, salt and sesame seeds in a large bowl. Stir in oil and water, then knead until a ball forms. Roll out dough (on a floured surface!)  and fit it into a 9 1/2-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.  Trim any excess length (I actually made a smaller version of this with extra dough in a small ramekin). Prick bottom all over with a fork and bake until crust is golden brown and crisp, about 30 minutes.
2. Filling: Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Place spinach/kale/greens in a large pot (if dry, add a little bit of water) and cover. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until just wilted. Transfer to a colander to drain. When cool enough to handle, wrap in a kitchen or paper towel and squeeze to remove excess water. Coarsely chop and transfer to a bowl. Wipe pot dry and heat oil over medium heat. Add shallot, garlic, and red-pepper flakes; cook, stirring, until shallot is softened, about 4 minutes. Transfer to bowl with spinach. Add cheese, eggs, and salt; stir until combined.
3. Pour filling into crust and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake tart until just set, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

The Verdict:

This one is a toss up.  I tasted Kate’s pie – and it was delicious.  Mine, not so much.  I burned the crust and the kale was slightly too bitter to be tasty. More cheese probably also wouldn’t hurt. Overall, well worth incorporating into the rotation (especially if I can get it to taste like Kate’s!), though I’ll need a few more tries to perfect this bad boy.