Way back in the late 20th century, I was at a dinner party where a dish called Russian Vegetable Pie was served. It was zero degrees out so it felt like Siberia, and we had the pie with beet salad and iced glasses of vodka. Great meal! I loved the pie and got the recipe, but then I lost it. So I tried to recreate the pie myself, with varying degrees of success. The recipes I found online were close, but seemed to be either overladen with potatoes or missing something integral (it was the cream cheese). Then I was looking at a cookbook called
The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas at a thrift store, and I opened it right up to a recipe for Russian Vegetable Pie. And it was suddenly like I heard balalaika music...because there was the elusive combo of ingredients to make the elusive Russian Vegetable Pie.
The Vegetarian Epicure also offers a really nice collection of other recipes, like Gazpacho Salad, Potatoes Gruyere en Casserole, Minestrone Alla Milanese, Iced Cucumber Soup (with cream and chervil), and Ginger Cheesecake. As well as a range of homemade breads and recipes for sauces and vinaigrettes. The publication date on my copy is 1972 (though the book has been reprinted), with this paragraph from the original introduction:
In these strange 1970's, ominous and dramatic new reasons are compelling people to reexamine their eating habits. More and more foods are being "processed," becoming the products of factories rather than farms. Chemical nonfood "additives" alter the look of foods and prevent visible spoilage, but the nutritive value of treated foods is hugely diminished...[c]attle and poultry are treated with silbesterol (a sex hormone) to promote growth--and profit--resulting in unknown danger to human consumers, including the possibility of various types of cancer.
Much has changed since then, but much has stayed the same. Above all, Anna advocates that good food "is a celebration of life, and it seems absurd...that in celebrating life we should take life." If you'd like to see Anna's more recent work,
click here for The Vegetarian Epicure II, published in 2014. All that said, this is her simple but delicious Russian Vegetable Pie:
Pastry
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
4 oz softened cream cheese
3 tbs butter
Filling
1 small head cabbage (about 3 cups shredded)
1/2 lb mushrooms
1 yellow onion
to taste: basil, marjoram, tarragon, salt and fresh ground pepper
3 tbs butter
4 oz softened cream cheese
4 to 5 hard cooked eggs
dill
Make a pastry by sifting together the dry ingredients, cutting in the butter, and working it together with the cream cheese. Roll out 2/3 of the pasty and line a 9 inch pie dish. Roll out the remaining pastry and make a circle large enough to cover the dish. Put it away to chill.
Shred a small head of cabbage coarsely. Wash the mushrooms and slice them. Peel and chop the onion.
In a large skillet, melt about 2 tablespoons butter. Add the onion and cabbage, and saute for several minutes, stirring constantly. Add at least 1/8 teaspoon each of marjoram, tarragon, and basil (all crushed), and some salt and fresh-ground pepper. Stirring often, allow the mixture to cook until the cabbage is wilted and the onions soft. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add another tablespoon of butter to the pan and saute the mushrooms lightly for about 5 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly.
Spread the softened cream cheese on the bottom of the pie shell. Slice the eggs and arrange the slices in a layer over the cheese. Sprinkle them with a little chopped dill, then cover them with the cabbage. Make a final layer of the sauteed mushrooms and cover with the circle of pastry.
Press the pastry together tightly at the edges, and flute them. With a sharp knife, cut a few short slashes through the top crust.
Bake in a 400-degree oven for 15 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 350 degrees and continue baking for another 20 to 25 minutes, or until the crust is light brown.
Serves 4 to 6.
