Cheese, Leek, and Artichoke Pie
A Northern Greek-inspired cheese and leek pie with greens and artichokes and a gluten-free crust. You will love Cheese, Leek, and Artichoke Pie!
Equipment
- 1 skilet
- 1 pie pan 9 inch
- 1 knife
- 1 cutting board
- 2 bowls for salting the leeks and greens
Ingredients
- 5 leeks medium
- 8 cups greens can include spinach, chard, mustard greens, arugula, mizuna
- 1 ¾ cups artichoke hearts marinated
- ⅓ cup cornmeal fine
- ⅓ cup cornmeal coarse
- ¾ pound cheese plant based equivalents of feta, parmesan, perhaps mozzarella
- butter, oil, or coconut oil to grease the pie pan
- salt coarse
Instructions
- Cut the tough portions of the leeks and the root end away. Cut the remaining leeks into approximately 1” sections. Quarter each section. Wash thoroughly. Leeks can often have dirt in between the layers of the leek and you want all of that out. Place the cleaned leeks into a bowl, add coarse salt, making sure that all the leek bits get the salt on them. Set aside for 50-60 minutes. This helps remove moisture from the leeks, softens them, and can remove any bitterness.
- Wash and shred the greens, removing any thick stems. Also salt with the coarse salt, making sure to work the salt into all the greens. Set aside in a bowl for approximately 45 minutes. This helps remove moisture from the greens and softens them.
- Once time is up on the salted greens and leeks, rinse them thoroughly to remove all the salt. Working with small handfuls or each, squeeze out as much liquid as you can. You can reserve up to a half cup of the liquid for the crust. You can also use cheesecloth to squeeze the liquid out, but I find hand squeezing sufficient.
- Sauté the leeks in a pan until soft, about 15 minutes. Add the greens and the artichokes in the same pan and sauté until the greens are wilted, about 5 minutes. Place in a bowl.
- While the leeks are cooking, take a 9” pie pan and either grease it completely, bottom and sides, with plant-based butter. You can also use oil. Sprinkle in the fine ground cornmeal, making sure the bottom and sides of the pie dish are evenly coated.
- Moisten the cornmeal with either water or the reserved liquid from squeezing the greens. I find using a squirt bottle on mist is easiest. Doing this may expose some bare spots in the pan, cover them with a bit more cornmeal.
- If you like, sprinkle some coarse ground cornmeal in the bottom of the pan. It will provide some crunch at the bottom of the pie.
- Mix the cheese with the greens. Use your hands to make sure the cheese is evenly mixed with the greens.
- All of the above can be done the day before, though if you do, wait on greasing the pie pan and adding the cornmeal. But if you the pie on the same day, let the mixture cool somewhat.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add in the cheese/greens mix into the pie container. Spread relatively smoothly. Cover the top of the pie with the ⅓rd cup of coarse cornmeal. Mist the cornmeal with water.
- Place in the oven for 1 hour or when the upper level of cornmeal has turned a reddish-brown. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Notes
Do make sure you salt the leeks and greens. This helps remove moisture from them and makes the pie firmer.
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