This cheesy potato pie is my inspired version of some famous chef’s recipe that didn’t work out for me…..I do a lot of substitutions that so far have always worked out and sometimes with a few minor changes the recipes come out even more delicious……After a lot of thought and another try with a different formula and different flavors. I figure the reason it didn’t work is because I screwed up the recipe by using russet potatoes instead of king Edward potatoes that are different……King Edward potatoes are the original and finest potato. They look pretty in photos and I read that they have a thin skin, a fluffy texture and are amazing as mashed potatoes……I didn’t know that the type of potato used would be key to the recipe.

Anyways-

The pie is suppose to get done in a hour……but it didn’t. I must also admit that I did made a few substitutions and rounded the ingredients slightly. Instead of using puff pastry all around the filling I made my own open shell…..That shouldn’t change things much. Instead of gruyere cheese I used Swiss. Instead of creme fraiche I used Greek yogurt. AND I CUT THE FILLING RECIPE IN HALF…..HALF so HALF should take LESS time in the oven…but it didn’t…….. After all this trouble it still came out tasting delicious but it took 3 & 1/4 hours instead of one hour.

Ingredients for around 7 servings

1 cup flour – crust

4 oz unsalted butter – room temperature – crust

1/4 teaspoon sea salt – crust

1/4 teaspoon baking powder – crust

1/4 cup cream cheese – crust

neutral non stick spray

4 oz shredded Swiss cheese

4 oz Greek feta cheese – crumbled

1 oz green pimento stuffed olives – chopped

1/4 cup parsley leaves – chopped

1/4 teaspoon dried mint (you can use a Tablespoon of fresh mint if you have it)

2 large russet potatoes – peeled- sliced thin on a mandolin

3 eggs – lightly beaten

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup greek style plain yogurt

heaping 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

Set oven to 350 F and spray a 9 inch springform pan with non-stick spray and set it to the side.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, butter, salt, baking powder, and cream cheese. Press this mixture into the springform pan with it going up the pan around 2 inches. Bake this for 10 minutes the middle rack so you don’t get a soggy crust. After 10 minutes it might not be all the way done.

In a large bowl mix the filling together. The Swiss cheese, feta cheese, olives, scallions, parsley, mint, potatoes, eggs, cream, yogurt, salt, and pepper.

Put the filling in your partially baked crust. (you might want a sheet pan underneath because springform pans leak sometimes). The directions said to bake at 350 F for 60 minutes…..I did that covered with loose foil that was sprayed with non stick spray on the inside facing the pie so it wouldn’t burn….I thought it was going to be done and removed the foil and let it brown up a little for another 15 minutes.

I didn’t know until I cut a slice that the potatoes were still hard.

So I covered it back up and thought maybe this just needs a higher temperature so I put it in a 425 F oven for another hour…….after an hour it still wasn’t done…so I repeated another hour.

So after the recommended 60 minutes at 350……and I added 15 minutes for browning.

Then I added another 2 hours at 425F I wound up with this. It doesn’t look as nice but it sure does taste very good……Even the crust has a delicious taste.

There is an easy solution to fix the problem with this recipe. You need to pre-cook the potatoes some if you can’t find king Edward potatoes. If you do that then the cheesy potato pie should work out. I know this because I gave it another try with a different formula and different flavors. On my second one the formula was 33% improved for using russet potatoes….also came out delicious but took two hours for my potatoes to soften instead of the 3 1/4 hours. If I ever get the idea to make up another one of these pies made with russet potatoes I will certainly pre-cook the potatoes some.