My sister is a lucky woman indeed. Her husband is not only wonderful, but is also a fantastic cook. I take my hat off to him for first introducing me to this recipe. Over the years I’ve adapted it to suit our family. What’s great about this recipe is that it’s packed with fibre from the black beans and peppers, and has a light chili flavour that’s a favorite with everyone under this roof. For the pie crust, I always use Crisco brand vegetable shortening and to make two 11″ pies, I triple the two-crust recipe. There’s a link the crust recipe a little further down this post…
For those of you who freak out at the thought of making pie crust, alas it is a pretty fool-proof one so before you whip out to the store for those pre-made crusts, just try it. The trick is to use super cold (ice) water – and when rolling out the dough, roll it between two sheets of lightly floured waxed paper. My late Dad, God bless him, taught me that trick.
The following recipe is to make two 11″ pies as one doesn’t last long in this house. To make the two pies does take about 2 hours because of chopping the peppers, onions, etc. and making the dough from scratch. It classifies as a “cook-me-quick” recipe only because I do the two pies and have an easy dinner solution for a couple of days. I also have frozen leftover slices of this pie for a quick fibre-packed lunches. Defrost, add a tossed salad and you’re good to go.
Ingredients to make two 11″ pies:
- 2 cups diced red or white onions
- 4 cups diced red and yellow peppers
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 cup medium salsa
- 3 x 19 oz. cans black beans
- 3 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- uncooked pie crust dough to cover the tops and bottoms of two pies. Click here for a link to the pie-crust recipe I use. Follow the method to make five pie shells and you will have a bit of leftover crust to make a couple of tart shells.
Preparation:
Make pie crust dough, roll into balls and set aside. Remember to roll the bottom dough balls larger because they will need to stretch up the sides of the pie plate. Cover the dough in plastic wrap or an inverted bowl until ready for rolling.
Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees.
Heat the olive oil in a soup-pot and add the diced onions and diced peppers to sauté until soft. Stir in salsa. Rinse the tinned black beans in water, drain and add to the pepper/onion mixture. Add the chili powder, black pepper and stir together. Let simmer for about 10 minutes and remove from heat.
Roll out the bottom crusts and line pie plates with them. Spoon one-quarter of the bean mixture into each of the two pie plates and then sprinkle on one-quarter of the grated cheddar cheese per pie-plate. Top the cheese in each pie plate with the remaining bean mixture. Top this with the remaining cheese.
Roll out the two piecrust lids and gently fold in half. Cut slits through to let steam escape. Gently place the piecrust on the top of the pie and roll the edges together with your fingers. For a nice finishing touch, make little scallops in the rim using your fingers (see the photo).
Bake in the pre-heated oven for one hour.
Serve with a nice simple green salad. Some members of my family love to top the bean pie with a dollop of sour cream. Choose your own adventure I say…
We know that fibre-packed foods like black beans are good for us. If you’d like to find out more about the top foods for health (which includes black beans) check out the Health.com website through this link.