Feta and Ricotta Cheese Skillet Pie

This dish is simple, fast and delicious. Add a salad or a bowl of soup and you've got a quick weeknight meal. I've made it several times now, but I'm finally getting around to blogging about it. The dish is handsome enough for company, especially if you have a cast iron skillet, which I don't. I think it is pretty enough for company even if you cook it in a plain dish. I usually cook it in a skillet that I can put in my oven. It is also high in protein, thanks to cheeses and eggs. It's so fast that you literally have to wait for your oven to warm up. It's also quite forgiving about the quantities. When I made it yesterday, I only had about 1/2 pound feta, and 2/3 pound ricotta, so I just used fewer eggs to get a consistency I thought would work.

Let's Get Started

Preheat the oven to 375º. Butter a 10" cast iron skillet or an earthenware baking dish.

In a bowl, mix 1/2 pound feta cheese and 1 pound ricotta cheese. You want some chunks left, so don't mix for too long. Stir in 4-6 eggs. Then add 1/4 cup flour and 3/4 cup milk. Season with salt and pepper, and 1 T. chopped dill.

Pour the batter into the buttered pan or dish. Crumble 1/4 pound feta over the top. Bake until golden, 35-40 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.

Scrambled Eggs in a Tortilla

Here's a super fast and easy supper! This is one of those things to fix on a night when your refrigerator looks a little bare. I love having eggs for supper, but as vegetarians, we have to be careful about how many eggs we eat in a week. This is still a quick hit of protein and ready in about 5 minutes - if you have sauces already made.

The recipe recommends serving this with salsa cruda with avacados (pico de gallo with chopped avocado added) and with Salsa Ranchera. I didn't have home made versions of these on hand, so I just used some salsa and green sauce I had in my refrigerator. I've made both home made sauces and they are delicious, so if you've got time to make them, they are both wonderful.

Basically, you just scramble 6 - 8 eggs in a bowl with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of water to make them fluffy. Melt 3 T. butter in a wide pan. When foaming, add the eggs and let them cook to your liking. Toward the end add a handful of feta cheese and some cilantro. (You could also use goat cheese or jack cheese.) While the eggs are cooking, warm 4 flour tortillas in a pan and wrap them in a towel to keep them warm.

Divide the eggs among the tortillas, wrap them up like a breakfast burrito, and serve. If you make ranchero sauce, you can smother it over the outside of the tortilla and top with more cheese.

I served this with hash browns (grate half a yukon gold potato per person into hot oil, season, and let it brown without moving it. When brown, flip the whole thing over and cook the other side. Cover with a lid to steam the potatoes.) I started this before starting the eggs and they were all done at the same time. I put some of the potatoes in the tortilla with my eggs and sauce.

Things I'd do differently next time: The quantities above serve 4 people. I used 3 eggs, which we divided between 3 smallish tortillas. I think next time, I'd make 4 eggs for the 2 of us and stuff our tortillas a little fuller.

Approximate cost to prepare:

6 eggs - $1.50

handful of feta - $.50

handful of cilantro - $.25

4 tortillas - $1.50

3 T. butter - negligible

Salsas - depends

TOTAL - $3.75 + sauce