The recipes I’m sharing this month are geared toward summer celebrations. Smashed potatoes are perfect to go alongside those burgers, hot dogs, ribs, chicken, and the like, and a pie that’s sure to please any cherry and blueberry lover. May your summer be filled with the creative freedom to express yourself through making and sharing the foods you enjoy.
Smashed Potatoes
12 small Yukon gold potatoes
4-6 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
Garlic powder, to taste
Sea salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese, to taste
Dried or fresh parsley, to taste
Place potatoes in a pot of cold salted water (enough water to completely cover potatoes) and bring to a boil. Cook potatoes until they are fork-tender. On a baking pan, generously drizzle olive oil, then place cooked and drained potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato. With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until slightly smashed, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and smash potatoes again. Drizzle the tops of each crushed potato with more olive oil. Sprinkle potatoes with garlic powder, sea salt, fresh ground black, Parmesan cheese and parsley. Place potatoes under the broiler until they become nice and crispyon top.
Cherry Blueberry Pie
2 cups pitted frozen cherries, thawed
2 cups frozen blueberries, thawed
3/4 cup raw granulated sugar
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
Pastry for a double-crust pie (9 inches)
Additional raw sugar
In a large bowl, gently combine cherries and blueberries, sugar, and flour, let stand 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 425°. On a lightly floured surface, roll one half of the dough into a 1/8-inch-thick circle, transfer to a 9-inch pie dish, trim dough to 1/2 inch beyond rim of the pie dish. Add the fruit filling.
Roll remaining dough into a 1/8-inch-thick circle, cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips. Arrange over filling in a lattice pattern, flute, and seal edge. Brush pie crust with egg wash (1 beaten egg with 2 tbs. water), then sprinkle with additional sugar. Cover edge of crust loosely with foil or pie shield, place pie on a baking sheet and bake 10 minutes. Reduce oven setting to 350°. Bake 30-35 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.
Note: In place of a lattice pattern for the top crust, you can simply lay dough on top of filling, crimp the edges together, and using a small star shaped cookie cutter, cut out a few pieces of the pie dough revealing some of the filling. You can then attach the cutout stars to the top of the pie crust with an egg wash, then brush entire crust with the egg wash as well, and sprinkle with a little raw sugar and bake per directions above.
Lisa Ann Panzino DiNunzio is author of Seasoned With Love, Treasured Recipes, Lisa Ann’s Seasoned With Love II, and children’s books Snicker Learns An Important Lesson and Readers’ Favorite 5-Star rated Little Twinkle Learns Her Purpose.
