Butternut Squash Pie

Tracie came up for lunch the other day, and I served this excellent roasted squash free-form pie.

Roasted squash, feta and fresh rosemary combine with caramelized onions to make a filling that is hard to stop eating.

It's a little more work than most recipes I share on this blog, but it can be done in stages, and it's worth it. Leftovers are good the next day, warm or at room temperature.

I served it with tangerine watercress salad and garlicky-kohlrabi roots and greens. A decadent flourless chocolate cake rounded out the meal.

Use your favorite pie crust recipe. I replaced half the flour with whole wheat to give a nuttiness that went well with the sweetness of the roasted squash and onions. The whole wheat flour required extra water in the pie crust, and it was a little messy, but it's a free-form pie so rustic is good.

(I made the crust the day before, refrigerated it overnight, and brought it to room temperature before rolling out.)

Butternut Squash Pie
1 1/2 lbs butternut squash
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
5 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 oz feta in 1/2 inch dice
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
pastry for 2-crust pie
1 egg beaten with a little water

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Peel and seed the squash. Cut in 3/4-inch pieces. Place on a baking sheet with the garlic cloves. Drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil and bake 25-30 minutes until tender. Let cool.

Sauté the onion in 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat about 10 minutes. Stir in balsamic vinegar and cook another 15-20 minutes until onion is caramelized. Remove from heat and add to squash. Let cool.

Stir the feta and rosemary into the squash. Squeeze the garlic from its skins and add to the squash too. Season with salt and pepper.

Roll out the pie crust to a 14-inch circle. I did this on a sil-pat which I then put on a cookie sheet to bake in the oven. Baking parchment would work as well.

Pile the squash mixture on the pie crust, leaving a couple of inches around the edges. Fold the edges over the filling, pleating roughly as you go. Brush the crust with the egg wash to make it a golden brown color.

Bake at 400°F for 30 minutes until crisp and golden.

Serves 6