Cauliflower Cheese Pie
Cauliflower Cheese Pie is a savory pie made with puff pastry or pie crust, cheese, and delicious pancetta and cauliflower. Serve it as a main dish with a salad on the side or it makes a great side dish for a larger meal.
Pies don’t have to be sweet and one of my favorite savory pies is this cauliflower cheese pie. It’s the same idea as a quiche but made with fewer eggs and a lot of more cheese, and lots of cauliflower baked into the filling.
Delicious Savory Pie Recipe
There are a few reasons I love this cheese pie recipe:
- You can serve it as a main dish but it’s also great as a side dish, too. For a main, I like to pair it with a crisp salad. When I make it as a side, it’s wonderful with beef, chicken or pork.
- You can make this easy with store-bought puff pastry or pie crust. If you have time, it is worth making your own homemade puff pastry (it’s really not difficult). Or try my favorite savory pie crust.
- It’s easy to change the flavor of the dish by using different kinds of cheese. A cheese like fontina, Gruyere, firm mozzarella work well. I use up what I have on hand in the refrigerator – it’s great recipe for using leftover cheese.
- If you are not a fan of cauliflower, you can use the same amount of broccoli to make a broccoli cheese pie.
If you’re looking for a creative way to serve cauliflower, this cauliflower cheese pie is a delicious way to do it.
Ingredients
- Pie crust or puff pastry
- Olive oil
- Chopped pancetta – if you can’t find pancetta, try using bacon instead. It will give it a different flavor.
- Minced shallot
- Minced garlic
- Large eggs
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Cauliflower broken into pieces
- Finely chopped fresh parsley
- Shredded cheese – any good melting cheese like Fontina and Gruyere will work. Firm mozzarella (not fresh) is also a good choice.
How to Make It
The first thing you will need to do is steam the cauliflower. I like to break it down into pieces and then steam it until it is al dente. You can steam it on the stove or in the microwave. Just don’t overcook it otherwise it will get very mushy in your pie.
Once you’ve steamed it, drain it very well and then dry it. The easiest way to do this is to lay it out on a dishtowel or paper towel and pat it dry. You want to remove the excess moisture so it doesn’t make your pie soggy.
In a pan cook the pancetta, shallot, and garlic in olive oil until the pancetta is lightly golden. Take the pan off the heat and let it cool.
Beat the eggs, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Mix in the parmesan cheese and parsley and then fold in the cauliflower.
Roll out the pie dough or puff pastry and fit it in a greased 8 to 9″ pie dish. Use a fork to prick the bottom of the dough. Spread half of the pancetta mixture on the bottom.
Pour the egg mixture over the top, and then add the shredded cheese. Sprinkle the rest of the pancetta mixture over the top. Fold the overlapping pastry on top, gives it a very rustic look. Bake the pie until it is set in the middle.
FAQ
The pie is cooked when it not longer jiggles in the center and a toothpick comes out clean.
It’s great warm from the oven but you can also serve it chilled or at room temperature.
Leftover cauliflower cheese pie will keep in the refrigerator for two to three days.
You can freeze it either baked or unbaked. It will keep for one to two months in the freezer.
More Savory Pies
- Tomato Cheese & Pancetta Pie
- Italian Eggplant Pie
- Italian Savory Zucchini Pie
- Italian Savory Rustic Pie
This is a wonderful dish to make for lunch or dinner. Cauliflower is always better when it’s baked with lots of cheese. I hope you give this one a try. Buon Appetito!
More Cauliflower Recipes
Cauliflower Cheese Pie
Ingredients
- 1 single pie crust (savory or puff pastry – homemade or store bought)
- 1.1 pounds cauliflower broken into pieces & steamed very al dente (drain and towel dry well) (250 grams)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¾ cup pancetta (chopped) (100 grams)
- 1 shallot (minced)
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 dashes black pepper
- 3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
- ½-1 tablespoon fresh parsley (finely chopped)
- ½-¾ cup shredded cheese (firm mozzarella, fontina or gruyere – a soft creamy cheese)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400F (200C). Lightly grease and flour a 8-9 inch pie dish.
- In a small/medium pan add the olive oil, pancetta, shallot and garlic, cook until the pancetta is lightly golden, let cool.
- In a medium pot steam the cauliflower pieces until very al dente approximately 2-4 minutes. Then drain and towel dry.
- In a large bowl beat the eggs, salt and pepper. Add the parmesan cheese and parsley, combine, then fold in the cauliflower. Set aside.
- Roll out the pie pastry and place in the prepared pie dish, prick the bottom well with a fork. Sprinkle half the pancetta mixture on the bottom, top with the egg mixture, shredded cheese and remaining pancetta mixture. Fold the overlapping pastry on top of the filling. Bake for 15 minutes then lower the oven to 350F (180C) and continue to bake for another 20-25 minutes or until set and crust is golden brown.
How do you make puff pastry
Hi Joyce here is a link to my fast and easy puff pastry that I use all the time. https://anitalianinmykitchen.com/puff-pastry/ Take care.
Was good but I will need to try again with some modifications. My cauliflower florets were cut too big and not cooked enough. I used a store bought pie crust that didn’t roll out big enough to hug to the top of the sides. Used a springform pan as shown in your pictures and not a pie plate as written in the recipe. Also did not have pancetta and used ham instead. It was very tasty and worth trying it again.
Good morning. I would like to make this for Thanksgiving. Do you have any experience making it ahead of time and freezing the entire pie?
Hi Sandra, I have never frozen the whole pie, you could probably make it a day ahead and refrigerate and then bake it. Let me know how it goes.
hey rosemary!
are there any substitution for pancetta?
am a vegetarian so what could be possibly used with a similar texture/taste?
Hi Bri, cauliflower goes well with capers, but if you don’t like those, then I would just leave it out. Maybe add 2 shallots instead of 1. Hope that helps, let me know how it goes. 🙂