Veggie pies

I love veggie pies. They make such great meals. Here are my two recent experiments. One thing that I've always wanted to try out is to use herbed oil to roast vegetables. So I try this out on my latest vegetable pies.

Recipe 1: Zucchini pie (make 1 9" by 1/2" thick pie)

Ingredients:
- 1 small yellow squash
- 1/2 large zucchini
- 2 eggs
- 2 TB cottage cheese
- 2-3 TB flour
- 2-4 TB water
- 1/4 tp salt
- 1/4 tp of celery seeds
- 1/4 tp dill weeds and lemon peel flakes
- handful of shredded mozzarella and asiago cheeses
- 1/4 tp dried rosemary
- 2-3 TB olive oil

Procedure:
1. Slice the yellow squash and the zucchini thinly. Safe some for topping. Cook the remaining in a non-stick pan heated with oil. When the squashes are soft, add celery seeds, dill weeds and lemon peel flakes. Then allow to cool.
2. Beat egg lightly. Add cottage cheese and mix well. When the cooked squashes are cool, add in the egg and cheese and mix. Then sprinkle flour and mix well. Pour the mixture into a pan greased with butter.
3. Sprinkle shredded cheeses on top. Place thin slices of yellow squash and zucchini on top.
4. Sprinkle rosemary on top. Brush the squash toppings generously with olive oil.
5. Bake at 350F for about 20-30 minutes.
6. Allow to cool before serving.

Recipe 2: Eggplant tomato pie (1 small 6" pie)

Ingredients:
- 1 medium eggplant, sliced
- 1/4 cup fresh or canned diced tomato
- 2 TB cottage cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 tp oregano flakes and some more for topping

Procedure:
1. Save some slices of eggplant as topping. Mix the remaining with tomato cheese, egg and oregano flakes.
2. Pour the mixture into a baking pan. Top with eggplant slices.
3. Apply olive oil generously. Then sprinkle oregano flakes.
4. Bake at 350F for about 20-30 minutes until the pie consolidate.
5. Serve when cooled.

In the making of these two pies, the most exciting part is when the herbs release their aromas during the baking. That aroma, blended with the vegetable toppings, makes the pie very tempting.