Notes about Recipes in this book

• Butter and shortening crust

  • averythingcooks on August 17, 2020

    This a lovely pastry recipe! I used it to make some ground beef “hand pies” (not from this book) and it rolled beautifully and baked up flaky & crisp. I don’t use the vodka trick in every pastry recipe I make but every time I do, I get excellent results. Her instructions re: how to wrap the dough in plastic wrap seemed a bit over the top but I guess they would help you ultimately roll a rectangle for one of her slab pies. I will make this pastry again!

• Caramelized onion crust

  • averythingcooks on May 03, 2021

    I made a single crust to use in a smaller oval (1/2 the volume of the 9 x 13 slab pie pan) for a double crusted pie and it fit perfectly. Once the butter is made/chilled, the pastry comes together quickly & it rolled out beautifully. You can taste the onions and it baked up golden & flaky. I used the heated pizza stone method to ensure a crisp bottom crust - I will do that again. My plan now is to have some full and 1/2 portions of the butter in the freezer waiting for more uses of this pastry...I'm pretty sure it would also be great for a beef pie.

  • anya_sf on November 09, 2019

    This was easier to make than I expected. Note that the amount of onion butter listed is just the amount of butter prior to adding the onions. I assumed I should use all of the onion butter (mine weighed 280 g). I made the dough 2 days ahead of time and refrigerated it before using.

• Onion butter

  • anya_sf on November 09, 2019

    I made the onion butter the day before making the caramelized onion crust. After mixing, the butter was very soft, so I didn't try to form it into a block, just covered the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and chilled it. It was a tiny bit harder to cut into pieces for the crust, but not too much so.

• Nacho slab pie with a corn bread crust

  • anya_sf on September 18, 2020

    Good, but not as good as I'd hoped. The filling got lost in the large quantity of chips and cornmeal crust, although part of that might be my fault as I neglected to cure the pork. Best with lots of toppings. It was a bit tricky to assemble as the chips and cheese were piled quite high in the pan, and was hard to tell when done - I baked it an extra 5 minutes just in case. If I made it again, I'd use fewer chips and perhaps season the filling more. It was very filling!

• Pork carnitas

  • anya_sf on September 18, 2020

    I jumped straight to the slow cooker instructions, which said to combine everything in the cooker, and missed seeing the part about cutting and salting the pork beforehand. The carnitas turned out well anyway, but were probably not as well seasoned as they could have been. The slow cooker method was very easy. My pork butt weighed 3.5 lbs and I got enough carnitas for 2 pies.

• Loaded baked potato slab pie with a caramelized onion crust

  • anya_sf on November 01, 2019

    This pie has a lot of components, but many can and should be made ahead of time. The dough was surprisingly quick and easy to make. Note that it calls for 225 g onion butter, which is the weight of the original butter without onion - I assumed I should use all the onion butter (280 g). There was a lot of filling, but I mounded it and that worked. Using frozen broccoli straight from the bag also worked. The pastry baked up tender and nicely browned on all sides, with a subtle onion flavor. The filling was hearty and delicious. I'm going to assume the stated serving sizes are appetizer or light lunch portions; in our house, this served 6 hungry people for dinner.

  • averythingcooks on May 03, 2021

    First job = ruler & some math to find the perfect pan (correct dimensions & importantly - the suggested height) to use for 1/2 recipes from this book and I now have "the one" - a shallow oval. There are a lot of steps here but I spread them easily over the day and the result was a very rich & tasty pie with a lovely golden, flaky crust. We did use ham in place of bacon this time & I agree with anya sf - there is a lot of filling! Even a 1/2 recipe made a substantial pie....but my breakfast piece was still really good.

• Pan-roasted mushroom and kale slab pie with an all-butter crust

  • MollyB on November 23, 2018

    Delicious pie! We had it as a vegetarian main dish for Thanksgiving, and it was a big hit. A lot of work, but worth it. One caution - the weight for fresh kale seemed off (too much). Once we chopped the amount of kale as listed, there was no way it would fit in the pie; I would go by the volume measure (5 c) on the chopped fresh kale, not the weight.

  • anya_sf on June 11, 2021

    I made a single-crust, open-faced version. I just had 10 oz frozen spinach (instead of kale), which seemed like enough relative to the mushrooms, although more would have fit. I used the sherry but omitted the red pepper flakes. The pie was very tasty. Without the top crust, this served 4 for dinner with a side salad. I would make it again the same way, but with even more mushrooms and the full amount of greens, and perhaps some blue cheese for added flavor.

  • Lsblackburn1 on December 16, 2018

    This was delicious. My first slab pie was not pretty, but made a great vegetarian option for a casual pie-themed dinner party.

• Asparagus, Fontina, and pancetta slab pie with a lard crust

  • anya_sf on May 12, 2020

    The instructions don't give the oven temperature for blind baking; I went with 400 degrees, the temperature for the filled pie. My asparagus spears were already only 10" long, so I trimmed them as little as possible and peeled the lower parts of the stems. Only about 12 oz asparagus fit in the pie. I just cooked 5 oz pancetta (which actually looked like about 1 cup) and thought it was enough. I omitted the chives and didn't miss them. The pie was quite delicious, the lard crust super flaky. The filling was a tad salty, which would be perfect if serving this as hors d'oevres. We had it for dinner, where it served 4 hungry people (could probably serve 6 normal appetites, but my teenager had thirds).

• Southern-style tomato slab pie with a cheddar cheese crust

  • anya_sf on July 14, 2020

    I made an open-faced pie. Half the crust recipe was plenty for the full bottom crust and we liked that ratio of crust to filling. I did have to add a little extra water for the dough to come together. The pie was absolutely delicious.

  • Laurendmck on August 06, 2019

    Phenomenal! I've made tomato pies before. This hits all the right notes. The layer of mayo on the bottom is lovely as is the cheddar crust.

• Zucchini, feta, and Kalamata olive slab pie with a puff pastry crust

  • Lsblackburn1 on July 13, 2021

    Delicious pie. I brought this to a summer potluck and it was a big hit. Made it just as written.

• Cheesy cauliflower rarebit slab pie with a rye crust

  • anya_sf on December 24, 2020

    I made the crust a day ahead. It was fairly soft straight out of the fridge, but not too bad to work with, just needed lots of flour. I weighed 1 lb cauliflower for the filling, but it was barely enough to fill the pie; next time I will use at least 50% more. We all enjoyed this pie, along with a crisp green salad to balance the richness.

• Classic pimento cheese

  • hirsheys on December 15, 2019

    Not my favorite - the smoked paprika is too overwhelming to the rest of the flavors. I also missed the worcestershire and onion taste in some of the other recipes.

• Christine's smoky fish slab pie with a caramelized onion crust

  • anya_sf on November 18, 2019

    I made 1/2 recipe using the all-butter crust. Note that the recipe indicates that nothing about this pie can be made ahead, but the crust needs to be. The cod took 25 minutes to poach in the oven. For the sauce, I used a local cheese that tastes like a cross between cheddar and Swiss. There was a lot of filling, so make sure your bottom crust has plenty of extra on all sides - mine was lacking and I got a bit of leakage. Fortunately, I'd placed parchment under the pan. The sauce also bubbled up through the cutouts, which made the pie pretty ugly, and also made it need an extra 10 minutes in the oven. The pie was absolutely delicious - I loved the combination of shrimp, mild white fish, and smoked salmon - and very rich, so I'm glad I only made half.

• Favorite turkey chili Frito slab pie with a cornbread crust

  • sberes on February 24, 2019

    My husband and I enjoyed this a lot! I cut back the chili powder but would try with the whole amount next time. I also would cut back the green onions to 1/4 or 1/3 cup. Mix some taco sauce and sour cream for the side

  • mamacrumbcake on October 14, 2020

    Second time I’ve made this. It was really delicious with some salsa (roasted hatch tomatillo) and sour cream. 4 stars with toppings, 3 stars without—the pie is very savory and the acidity and brightness from salsa and sour cream, complement it perfectly. This is kid-friendly comfort food. Since there is not a lot of chopping, it’s actually pretty easy to make. I used all of the turkey chili, including the liquids and the cornbread crust turned out fine—not soggy. Though it fills up the quarter sheet pan, it does not overflow—just remember to remove a ½ cup of the cornbread batter.

  • anya_sf on November 12, 2019

    I made the vegetarian version using the black bean chili in this book. I didn't have chipotle in adobo, so I used chipotle chile powder mixed with New Mexico chile powder. That added some smokiness, although the overall chili was very mild. We added hot sauce at the table, and also topped it with diced avocado and a squeeze of lime. My family liked this, but wanted more filling relative to crust. Next time I'll use a casserole dish so I can use all the cornbread crust batter (the "extra" one was rather bland on its own) and load up on filling (I'll probably add ground turkey to the veggie chili).

  • Jviney on September 19, 2019

    This is a keeper recipe! I kept the adobo sauce and spices exactly as called for and the dish did not have much heat, which is fine, but I might experiment with adding a chipotle chili next time. I served with lime and sour cream, and I think the contrast of both benefitted the dish.

• Italian sausage and pepper slab pie with an all-butter crust

  • anya_sf on November 06, 2019

    I used a full pound of frozen chopped spinach, squeezed as dry as possible, and sprinkled the blind-baked crust with a bit of parmesan to help it remain crisp. Note that the weight (4 oz/113 g) and volume (1/2 cup) of parmesan cheese don't match; use however much you want. Per the suggestion, I added some mozzarella as well. This pie was a lot like deep dish pizza. My family loved it so much that it only fed 4 hungry people.

• Beefy empanada slab pie with a cream cheese crust

  • hirsheys on October 27, 2020

    This slab pie has a pretty traditional picadillo-style filling, though it is flavored with smoked paprika (as well as a few other spices), which I found a bit overwhelming taste-wise the first day, but it mellowed over the next few days. I followed the recipe exactly except for one rather huge change - the “patties” in my freezer that I thought were beef turned out to be pork bratwurst. After frying it up and draining (per the recipe), I tasted it and determined that it was lightly flavored enough and would be a fine substitute for the beef. Anyway, I’d make this again - probably making the filling the day before to let the flavors meld. The crust was delicious, and overall it was a big success.

  • MollyB on May 20, 2019

    This pie was great! A nice savory filling with some hits of sweetness from the raisins. I might add a little bit of chipotle powder or other ground chile if making it again. My bottom crust didn't really crisp up enough - I think I didn't preheat the oven with the baking steel quite enough.

• Cowboy beef stew slab pie with a lard crust

  • Lsblackburn1 on August 23, 2020

    Wow - this was delicious! Very rich, so I kind of regretted not making a salad or something lighter to go with it. The lard crust was incredibly flaky.

• Ham and Gruyère slab pie with an all-butter crust

  • Lsblackburn1 on April 14, 2020

    We loved this, but I made it with only a single crust in order to cut some calories (because I’m going to emerge from this pandemic a lot heavier than I was going in if I’m not careful!). That worked well and was probably a good idea because the filling layer is pretty thin.

• English-style pork slab pie with a hot water crust

  • anya_sf on February 26, 2020

    I'm not sure if I rolled the dough too thick (didn't seem like it), but I did not have extra dough scraps for decorations. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to pour only 1 tsp of gelatin stock in each hole or use the whole cup, but the author was kind enough to clarify that it's as much as the pie can take - anywhere between 1/2 - 1 cup. In my case it was barely 1/2 cup and several of the holes overflowed as I tried to fill them. Once I cut into the pie, I could see that much of the gelatin went in between the filling and edges, but overall that didn't seem to matter. This was a very hearty, tasty pie, best with mustard, pickle, and beer.

  • MollyB on February 25, 2020

    Very good, simple pie (simple taste-wise that is - not simple to make!). This was my first time working with a hot water crust, and it turned out well. The filling did shrink in some from the edges as it cooked, but I don't see how you can avoid that. This was a big hit with my 8 yr old, who wanted the leftovers for several meals in a row.

• Eggs Florentine slab pie with a hash brown crust

  • anya_sf on May 24, 2020

    I made this for 3 people for dinner, using half the bacon and 6 eggs. The crust wasn't as much work as I'd feared. Next time I will let it brown more deeply and thoroughly since I love the crispy browned bits best. 2 Tbsp butter was enough to saute the filling and next time I'll reduce the cream to 3/4 cup as the full cup seemed excessive. I wasn't sure if the salt in the filling was table salt or kosher - I used kosher, then tasted it, and ended up adding more. I found it easier to make the wells with a soup spoon rather than a ladle (next time remember to make them large so the egg doesn't run out!) and just topped each egg with 1/2 Tbsp cream. My family liked this a lot. I'd love to try the smoked salmon version.

• Sausage and biscuit slab pie with a Ritz cracker crust

  • Mtetpon on March 15, 2020

    I could only fit 16 biscuits on the tray. I might have made them bigger than recipe called for. This is very interesting with the Ritz cracker crust. I would take it to a potluck as it is very good and something no one has tried.

  • taste24 on June 15, 2020

    Everyone enjoyed this dish. Next time, I would 1.5 or double the sausage gravy recipe (include more in the pie and some extra to spoon over the biscuits) and put a little less Ritz cracker crust in the pan. The crust crumbled a lot and did not hold its shape upon cutting into the pie.

• Absolutely peachy slab pie with an all-butter crust

  • Jviney on August 11, 2019

    Delicious, loved the almond flavor. This was my first attempt out of this cookbook, and I'm really excited to explore into the savory dishes. I used my baking steel as recommended, with parchment paper; was worried the juices would drop onto the oven floor but they stayed on the parchment paper and it all worked perfectly.

  • hirsheys on September 12, 2019

    This came out really well, though I wished that I had just stuck with vanilla rather than adding the almond. (I think my almond paste may have been slightly off and missed the pure taste of peach, regardless...) That said, it came out very well and I was impressed with how easy the crust rolled out.

• Easy-as-pie apple slab pie with an all-butter crust

  • Jviney on October 11, 2019

    This one kind of grew on me. I had never made an apple pie with shredded apples, but when time is short this really does make the process go quickly. Recipe notes state to expect 1.5-2” of shredded apples in the unbaked crust, and I definitely did not have that much. The crunchy sugar topping made up for the lack of apples and the pieces could be picked up and eaten by hand, which was novel. Not my favorite apple pie recipe, but I’d make it again.

• Pear and frangipane slab pie with a puff pastry crust

  • anya_sf on November 29, 2019

    Poaching the pears a few days ahead made this pie easy to bake on Thanksgiving morning. I failed to roll the crust wide enough to get edges, so a little bit of syrup leaked over the sides, but the pie was fine. We enjoyed it plain, as it was plenty sweet enough on its own without the suggested ice cream.

• Peanut butter slab pie with a chocolate wafer crust

  • sberes on February 26, 2019

    Excellent! I scattered honey roasted peanuts over the top and it was the perfect touch!

  • MollyB on February 25, 2020

    This recipe was the first failure I've had from this book. Somehow the flavors just did not come together for me, and even my 8 yr old wouldn't finish a piece. (I did omit the optional cayenne.) It seemed hard to go wrong with the ingredient list, but it just didn't taste good for us when completed.

• Good morning cheese Danish slab pie with a puff pastry crust

  • anya_sf on November 09, 2019

    The easiest cheese "danishes" ever! My puff pastry sheet was slightly larger than the pan so I created a lip around the edges, which worked fine, although they needed a few extra minutes in the oven. I used whole milk ricotta instead of farmer cheese and raspberry jam. Really delicious!

• RecipeGirl

  There are step-by-step techniques included for rolling and decorating. Barrow shows you that making slab pies can be easier and less-intimidating than putting together a traditional round pie.

  Full review

• Eat the Love by Irvin Lin

  ...features both savory and sweet pies with a higher crust to filling ratio (slab pies are usually more shallow than their round counterparts.

  Full review

• Eat Your Books by Jenny Hartin

  Pie takes on a new life in Cathy Barrow's latest, Pie Squared.

  Full review