Vegetable Popover Pie
The savory heaven of Yorkshire pudding without the roast beef
Everyone has one type of starchy treat — potato chips, or pizza — which in a perfect world we would eat without consequence forever. For me this is unquestionably Yorkshire Pudding.
Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding, the ur-WASP Sunday feast, was my family’s favorite meal when I was growing up. The roast beef (oh the memories of those tiny, stringy, hideously expensive roasts of the 1970s!) were just a pretext for the real treat — golden popovers cooked in beef drippings which came to the table puffed and shining. God, they were delicious.
I never cook roasts of beef anymore, or very rarely, so have not had any occasion to make Yorkshire Pudding. I have tried to make plain popovers, which have always been disappointing and bland without the salty funk of the beef drippings.
This dish uses the caramelized flavor of the vegetables cooked inside the pudding as an alternative to the beef drippings. It is deeply savory.
Vegetable Popover Pie
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Vegetables
1 red bell pepper, sliced, or half a red onion, quartered
2 portobello mushrooms, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
1 zucchini, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
olive oil
salt and pepper
Batter
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons gruyère or other hard cheese
salt and pepper
Instructions:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Toss sliced vegetables with olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste.
Lay out vegetables onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick aluminum foil.
Bake in the oven until vegetables develop a nice char (15–20 minutes)
While vegetables are cooking, whisk together eggs, milk, flour, cheese and salt & pepper.
Generously butter an oven proof pan (for best results, use a cast iron skillet).
When vegetables are ready to come out of the oven, pour batter into the pan. Arrange the vegetables in the center of the batter.
Bake at 400 degrees until the pudding puffs and turns golden (15–20 minutes).
Slice and serve.
