It’s a big handsome pie! This is another good option for a vegetarian holiday meal. It’s pretty enough and satisfying enough. I love the combination of butternut squash, goat’s cheese and hazelnut. Something about the nuttiness, tartness and sweetness just blends perfectly together. The crust is crispy and delicious, with ground hazelnuts and white & black pepper. Inside we find layers of butternut squash roasted with sage and rosemary, alternated with layers of fresh ricotta mixed with greens, artichoke hearts, capers, and goat cheese. It sounds complicated, but it’s not hard to make. I love this particular shape of pie. I think I might have invented it! I think it looks nice, but it’s completely easy and forgiving and fun to make.

This is delicious served with romesco sauce or a simple tomato sauce.

Here’s Squash Dance, from the Anthology of Central and South American Indian Music

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and de-seeded
3-4 cups of greens (I used swiss chard and baby spinach) About 2 cups when it’s all cooked down – very finely chopped
2 artichoke hearts, finely chopped
1 t. capers, finely chopped
1 1/2 cup fresh ricotta
1/4 cup goat cheese
1 cup diced mozzarella
2 eggs – beaten
red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic – minced
1 t. sage
1 t. rosemary
1/2 t. thyme
salt & pepper

1 recipe Paté brisée, substitute 1/2 cup ground hazelnuts for 1/2 cup flour

1. slice the butternut squash into 1/4 inch slices

Coat it lightly with olive oil, toss with the herbs, and lay it in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast at 450 for about 20 minutes till it’s brown and starting to caramelize.

2. Sauté the garlic and red pepper flakes for a few minutes then add the greens and cook till they’re quite dry.

3. Put the greens, cheeses, capers and art hearts in a bowl and mix well. Season with salt and plenty of pepper. Add all but about 1 T of beaten egg, and mix that in very well, too.

4. Butter a pie plate. I make this pie in a pie plate, but it’s not really about the shape of the dish, if you know what I mean. So you could just make it on a flat sheet if you felt like it. It would spread out more, though.

5. Roll out 3/4 of the pastry into a circle and lay it over the pie plate. You can trim so there’s about an inch of overlap

6. Put a layer of greens/cheese mixture, topped with a layer of squash, topped with a layer of greens & cheese, and then another layer of squash.

7. roll the remaining dough into a circle just the size to cover your filling. Place it on top. Pull the extra bottom dough over and flatten it lightly over the top part. Don’t roll it up, just pull it over and press lightly with the tines of a fork to seal it. Brush with egg and bake at 450 for about 1/2 hour till it’s golden brown and crispy.