Cauliflower-Cheese Pie with Grated Potato Crust

By Leslie Blythe  , , ,   

December 3, 2020

This Cauliflower-Cheese Pie with Grated Potato Crust is a recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen, which was written in 1977.  It was listed by the New York Times as one of the top ten best-selling cookbooks of all time. She was a pioneer in vegetarian cuisine. It's very dated and yet right on par with what we all should be thinking about - using simple ingredients to create an interesting and delicious meal.

I brought this cookbook with me when I was a newlywed in London. I always write notations in all my cookbooks and this particular recipe said it was a definite "make again". We have been strictly quarantining in our home this past week and happen to have the ingredients to make this. It had been years since I did, and now I wonder why it took me so long to revisit this.

  • Prep: 30 mins
  • Cook: 1 hr 30 mins
  • Yields: 6 Servings

Ingredients

Crust

2 cups packed grated raw potatoes

½ teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten


¼ cup onion, grated

Filling

1 heaping, packed cup strong cheddar cheese, grated


1 medium cauliflower, broken into small florets

1 garlic clove, crushed


1 cup onion, chopped

3 tablespoons butter

1 dash thyme

½ teaspoon basil

½ teaspoon salt

2 eggs


¼ cup milk

black pepper

paprika

Directions

1Set the freshly grated potato in a colander over a bowl. Salt it and leave for 10 minutes. Then, squeeze out the excess water. Beat in the egg, salt, and grated onion.

2Pat into a well oiled 9-inch pie tin, building up the sides of the crust with lightly floured fingers. Bake at 400° F for 40 to 45 minutes, until browned. After the first 30 minutes, brush with some more oil to crispen it.

3Meanwhile, sauté the onions and garlic in the butter for 5 minutes. Add the herbs and cauliflower and cook, covered, 10 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4Spread half the cheese into the baked crust. Top with the sauté, then the rest of the cheese. Beat together the egg and milk and carefully pour the custard over and dust with paprika.

5Lower the oven temperature to 375° F and bake for 35 to 40 minutes longer, until custard is set and is the pie is nicely browned.

Recipe adapted from the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen.

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3 Reviews

Leslie Blythe

December 22, 2020

So true!!!

Lucy Mattingly

December 22, 2020

We’ve been making this (and many other) recipes from the Moosewood Cookbook since 1977 and love them all. Just watch your knuckles – there’s a lot of grating!

Barbara Abel

December 4, 2020

I love the Moosewood Cookbook and I love this recipe – thank you so much for sharing it!

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