Anna Thomas’s “The Vegetarian Epicure, Books I and II,” were the first cookbooks I ever owned. She published them in the early ‘70s and I bought them more than a decade later, out of college and eager to cook vegetables in a fresh and delicious way. Her Russian Vegetable Pie, filled with tender sauteed onions, cabbage and mushrooms over a slather of cream cheese, was one of my first baking triumphs. I’ve made it many times since. But I altered the recipe to cut out the butter in favor of olive oil, switched to Neufchatel instead of cream cheese, added a swirl of Dijon mustard at the base, and tucked the filling into a healthier whole wheat & nut flour crust.
I think my recipe update of Anna’s long-loved pie would meet her approval. Writing in her 1996, “The New Vegetarian Epicure,” Thomas says her ’70s cookbooks—which would go on to sell more than a million copies, were written at a time when vegetarianism was a popular idea, but vegetarian food was pretty awful. So, her first aim was to make vegetarian food taste better. And back then, using plenty of butter and cheese was then still a thing. “That first Vegetarian Epicure and its sequel captured the geist of a certain time—it was a guilt-free era when butter and cream were used without a care and cheese ruled,” said Thomas. “Today, of course, our attitudes are different, and I say thank goodness they are. We are all finding healthier ways to eat and enjoying lighter food.”
To make the pie, you’ll need a nice, small head of Savoy cabbage, some cremini mushrooms, a good-sized yellow onion, and some fresh snipped French tarragon, basil, and dill. I like the texture and sturdiness of a whole wheat pastry flour crust (with almond flour added for a little extra nuttiness,) but you can make it gluten free by substituting gluten free flour for the whole wheat flour and omitting the mustard. If you need the pie to be dairy free, substitute coconut oil (chilled until solid) for the butter in the crust and use vegan cream-cheese-style spread instead of Neufchatel in both the crust and spread in the bottom of the pie.
Russian Vegetable Pie with Whole Wheat & Nut Flour Crust
Ingredients
- FOR THE PIE CRUST:
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 oz. Neufchatel cheese (You’ll use the other half of an 8-oz package in the pie filling)
- 4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) ice cold butter, cut into pieces
- FOR THE FILLING:
- 4 large eggs, hard boiled
- 3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 large yellow onion, peel discarded, onion finely chopped to make 1 cup
- 1 small head Savoy cabbage, roughly shredded (after cooking with the onion, you should have 4 ½ cups) OR small head regular cabbage
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided
- Small sprig fresh French tarragon, leaves snipped to make 2 Tbsp
- Small sprig fresh basil, leaves snipped to make 2 Tbsp
- Small sprig fresh dill, snipped to make 2 Tbsp
- ½ lb. cremini mushrooms, washed and sliced
- 4 oz. softened Neufchatel cheese
- 2 Tbsp. good quality Dijon mustard (Maille is very nice)
Instructions
- MAKE PIE CRUST: In a large wide bowl, combine flours with salt. Cut in butter and Neufchatel cheese, using fingertips to lightly break butter and cheese into the flour until it resembles wet sand. Add ¼ water (plus small amounts more as needed) mix until dough gathers up in into a ball. Divide dough in half. Roll ½ of dough into a large circle and fit into 9-inch pie dish, leaving excess dough overhanging rim of dish. Chill. Wrap 2nd half of dough and chill.
- MAKE FILLING: Place four eggs in their shells in pan of water. Boil for 6 minutes. Remove pan from heat to cool. Once cool, peel eggs.
- In a large sauté pan over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp of olive oil and chopped onion. Cook until onion is softened and translucent. While onion cooks, discard core from cabbage head. Cut head in half and roughly shred. Add ½ of the shredded cabbage to softened onion in sauté pan with ½ tsp of salt and ½ tsp pepper. Cook, stirring until cabbage has cooked down and is tender. Remove to a bowl and set aside. Add another 1 Tbsp of oil to pan with remaining half of the cabbage and again cook, stirring until cooked down and tender. Remove to the bowl with the first portion of cooked cabbage and onion. Stir in snipped tarragon and basil.
- Add remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil to sauté pan with sliced mushrooms. Add remaining ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper. Stir, cooking until mushrooms are cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400F. Remove dough-lined pie plate and the other half of the pie dough from fridge. Spread 4 oz. Neufchatel cheese on the bottom of the pie crust. Spread 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard over the cheese. Place half of the cabbage/onion/herb mixture into the pie. Slice eggs and arrange over the cabbage. Sprinkle with the fresh snipped dill. Layer remaining cabbage/onion/herb mixture over this. Top with mushrooms, slightly mounding at the center. Roll out remaining pie crust. Place over pie, tucking and rolling top crust over the bottom crust around the edge. Flute and press edge to seal. Cut a few knife slits in top of pie to vent steam. Bake pie in preheated 400F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350F and continue baking for an additional 20 to 25 minutes until pie crust is golden brown. Remove from oven. Slice and serve.
2 Comments
Thank you for sharing this, Monica!
I have this book from way back when. i think I will make this for dinner tomorrow. Thanks for sharing.