Pies of Unlimited Possibility

Real men don't eat quiche, but they do enjoy a good egg pie now and again. I was pricing up a box of cookbooks in the bookstore today and came across this humorous title by some hip hospice volunteers. These fundraiser cookbooks always have some good down home recipes, although they do tend to be heavy on the jello salads and cream of mushroom soup casseroles. I found a recipe for Impossible Seafood Pie, which brought back memories of leafing through homemaker magazines back in the day and seeing all those advertisements pushing Bisquick and other prepackaged foods. There was always some variant of Impossible Pie, basically a mixed up slurry of stuff that you baked and which magically produced its own crust in the oven.

I had some zucchini and assorted cheese ends in the fridge, so I came up with this version of a completely plausible pie, basically a crustless quiche or frittata. It was a hit with my Real Man.

Crustless Zucchini Pie

2 small zucchini, sliced thin
1 onion, sliced thin
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1-1/2 cups grated cheese (I used some garlic/herb cheddar and regular cheddar)
1-1/2 cups milk
4 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil a 9 or 10 inch pie pan.

Heat olive oil in a saute pan. Add onions and saute until lightly browned. Add zucchini and saute until softened. Place in center of pie pan with cheese.

Beat eggs and milk until smooth (about 1 minute with hand mixer). Season with salt and pepper. Pour over cheese and zucchini.

Bake 35-40 minutes (I forgot about this poor pie while I was on the computer, blogging dontcha know, so it can stand another 10 minutes of baking). Cool for 5-10 minutes to let set and then serve.

Serves 4-6 people.

You can also use other sauteed vegetables, such as tomatoes, broccoli, asparagus, etc. in place of the zucchini.