There were deadlines to meet, projects to finish, work that had piled up- so last week we took a break from cooking for a few days, and ate takeout. A couple of pizzas, fast-food sandwiches, and a lot of fries- and Lorraine, who apparently doesn’t possess the iron stomach I do, was sick. Deathly pale, unable to eat anything, and running to the bathroom every five minutes. Whether it was the result of too much sodium, or an overload of trans-fats, I knew what I had to do: get back in the kitchen!
Today Lorraine is thankfully completely recovered, and I’m pleased to be featuring what we had for dinner last night:
Sausage and Apple Torta
Ingredients:
Half a 15-ounce package of folded refrigerated unbaked piecrust (one crust)
2 large tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons butter
12 oz. sweet italian sausage
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups shredded italian-style cheese
1 cup ricotta or cottage cheese
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Preheat your oven to 450F. Unfold piecrust, and line a 9-inch pie plate with it. Bake according to package directions. Set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 350F.
In a large pan, cook apples, onion and sugar in hot butter over medium heat, for about five minutes- or until tender. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. In the same pan, cook sausage and garlic until meat is no longer pink; drain in colander. Pat sausage dry with paper towels. Spoon sausage into prebaked crust; top with cooked apple mixture. Combine cheeses and eggs; spoon evenly over apple mixture.
Bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
I couldn’t find anything else, so used crunchy Fuji apples. The pie was a success, served with a side of spinach and tomato salad. Delicious! And so not fast-food.