Recipe: Broccoli Hollandaise Pie (with rice crust and hollandaise topping)

BROCCOLI HOLLANDAISE PIE

"Broccoli is a vegetable people either love or hate, as evidenced by its banishment from the White House some years ago. I'm convinced that if the President had been served this pie, he wouldn't have been able to resist the bottom rice crust filled with steamed broccoli and crowned with a light-as-a-feather hollandaise topping."

2 cups cooked rice
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 shakes Tabasco sauce
4 cups steamed broccoli florets, tossed with salt and pepper to taste
1 recipe Hollandaise Topping (recipe follows)

In a large bowl, stir together the rice, egg, melted butter, salt, and Tabasco. Spray a 10-inch ovenproof dish with non stick cooking spray. Press the rice mixture into the bottom of the pan. Arrange the broccoli over the rice.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Make the Hollandaise Topping. Spread the sauce/topping over the broccoli.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, until the topping is golden and set. Let the pie stand for 5 minutes before cutting it into wedges and serving.

HOLLANDAISE TOPPING

"This is a take-off on sauce mousseline, in which stiffly whipped cream was folded into a hollandaise. Make this just before baking, so that the crust will puff up nicely."

3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus additional to taste
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus additional to taste
3 shakes Tabasco sauce
3/4 cup hot melted butter
1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream, stiffly whipped

Place the egg yolks, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, the parsley, chives, mustard, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and Tabasco into the work bowl of a food processor or blender. Blend for 1 minute. With the motor running, gradually add the hot butter through the feed tube until the sauce thickens, about 30 seconds. Taste For seasoning, and add more salt or lemon juice as needed. Remove from the work bowl, and turn into a mixing bowl. Fold in the whipping cream.

Makes 6-8 servings
Source: Pot Pies by Diane Phillips