Love

* I prefer to keep my blog strictly to healthy recipes for children, but in light of the events in Orlando please indulge my thoughts for the next few paragraphs.

We must teach our children to love. We must teach them to care and to nurture one another. All the chefs, cooks, farmers, foragers, cheese artisans I have ever met have a passion for what they do. They love to nurture, to care for and to share their food with others. They love to make people happy, satisfied, nourished and comforted.

Plant some seeds with your children so they learn to care for something. Cook with your children so they learn to nourish themselves. Encourage them to share their cooking with friends and family so they learn to share their love.

If we teach our children to love, there will be no room for hate. Our prayers are with all the families who have lost loved ones.*

Love

 

This recipe is based on something my mom has made for years. I was looking for dish that had spinach in it to increase our iron intake. so she made it for us and gave me the recipe.

I, of course, wanted to make it healthier. I almost doubled the amount of spinach, cut down on the ricotta, and cut out the salt.  There is Parmesan in the recipe and that gives it enough salt.

Alexander loves this and it’s a delicious way to get your spinach.

Enjoy!

Avec Amour, Victoria and Alexander

Florentine Pie

Yield – 6 Servings

1 Frozen Pie Shell (To make this easy and quick a frozen pie shell is fine. For anyone interested I will do my pie dough recipe at a later date.)

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

2 Cups Onion, small dice

16 oz Spinach, chopped frozen

1 1/4 Cups Ricotta

2 Eggs, large

1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg, ground

1/2 Cup Mozzarella, shredded

1/4 Cup Parmesan, grated

1/4 Cup Pine Nuts

1. Defrost spinach

in a strainer,

drain off excess liquid, squeeze as well to remove any remaning liquid and set aside.

2. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Line pie shell with tin foil and bake for 10 minutes exactly.

Remove from oven and let cool. Turn oven down to 350 degrees.

3.  Heat sauté pan over medium heat, add tablespoon of olive oil and sauté onions until light golden brown,

add spinach and cook over low heat to help evaporate moisture for about 5 minutes stiring occasionally.

4. Whisk together eggs and nutmeg,

stir in mozzarella, Parmesan and ricotta,

add spinach and onions. Pour mixture into pie shell.

Bake in oven for 40 minutes.

Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

 5. While pie is baking, sprinkle pine nuts on a sheet pan with a silpat and toast nuts in oven for 5 minutes. Let cool.

6.  Slice wedges from pie and serve with a sprinkling of pine nuts.