HAM AND GOAT CHEESE PIE

HAM AND GOAT CHEESE PIE

This savory, hearty pie has an easy-to-make, bread-like crust filled with rich, cheese custard. It is perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and makes enough to feed a family with leftovers. It is definitely one of the best things I ever ate!

HAM AND GOAT CHEESE PIE

Crust ingredients:

1 cup finely ground almond flour
¼ cup coconut flour
2 tablespoons hemp hearts, sesame seeds, or finely chopped nuts
1 tablespoon psyllium husk powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons coconut oil, ghee, or butter, melted
1 large egg
¼ cup water

Filling ingredients:

1 tablespoon clarified butter, ghee, bacon fat, or  coconut oil
5 ounces chopped onion, about ½ a large onion
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
1 cup diced ham (sugar-free, like Kurobuta) or 6 to 8 slices chopped, crisp bacon
¼  cup minced greens and/or herbs or microgreens
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream or yogurt* (I used half Greek yogurt and half kefir)
Salt and pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
5 ounces shredded cheese, such as mozzarella, cheddar, jack, or other
6 ounces soft goat cheese or ricotta

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 9-inch spring-form or cheesecake** pan and place a parchment round in the bottom, if desired. Grease the parchment also.

Place dry ingredients in food processor and pulse to blend. Add oil or butter and break egg into processor. Add water and run machine for a few minutes until dough forms a ball. Alternately, dough can be mixed in a bowl with a wooden spoon.

Place dough in pan. With greased fingers, press dough evenly in bottom and part of the way up the sides of the pan. Bake crust in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until firm and starting to brown. Remove from oven.

Sauté onion in butter in a skillet for a few minutes until softened. Add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes more. Stir in diced ham or bacon. Scatter onion mixture over bottom of baked crust and sprinkle greens/herbs on top.

In a bowl, whisk eggs until smooth. Whisk in sour cream or yogurt. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg and stir in shredded cheese. Pour into crust. Drop tablespoon-sized dollops of goat cheese over top of pie. Place in preheated oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until top is brown and filling is almost set but still slightly wobbly in the center. Note: Cover edges with pie-crust shields if necessary to prevent over-browning. Let cool for a few minutes then slice and serve hot or at room temperature.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition data:

Calories: 413; Fat: 34.1g; Protein: 20.9g; Carbohydrate: 7.6g; Fiber: 3g; Net Carbs: 4.6g

Crust recipe inspired by one used in the wonderful Meat Pie recipe on the Diet Doctor’s site at https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/low-carb-meat-pie

NOTES:

*Yogurt and kefir show higher carb counts on the labels than sour cream, but because most of the sugar in the milk they are made from has been eaten by the live microbes, they actually have about the same amount of carbs.

**A cheesecake pan has a loose bottom. To remove the pie from the pan, you place it over a jar and press down to release the contents from the rim. The small bottom disk remains under the pie.

A spring-form pan has a rim that can be removed by loosening the latch on the side leaving the pie on the base. This recipe inspired me to invest in an 8-inch and a 9-inch cheesecake pan, which makes the pie easier to slice and would make a better picture than the one above!

©2017, Judy Barnes Baker