Roasted Beet Pie with Blue Cheese & Caramelized Onions -- simple pie, big flavors

This is another savory pie for the 9th square pie contest. Again, the main ingredients are from the summer farmer's market behind Woosley Hall, courtesy to the Yale dining service. The bundle of beet roots with beet greens were $2.00/bundle. It was just impossible resist those beautiful beets, and as a result, we found ourselves eating beet salad, beet burgers, even beet cakes. And now, it's time for a glorious beet pie.

Roasted Beet Pie with Blue Cheese & Caramelized Onions

serves 6-12

• 1 pre-baked pie shell
• 3 medium beet roots
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 vidalia onion, sliced
• 2 tsp butter
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1 tsp prepared mustard
• 11/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic granulate
• 1 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 tsp chopped fresh basil (garnish)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Wrap the beets in an aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt and pepper, and roast for about an hour. Let cool.
3. In a skillet, melt the butter, and sauté the sliced onion until well caramelized, for about 25-30 minutes.
4. Peel and slice the roasted beets. Arrange in the pre-baked pie shell. Layer the caramelized onions on top. Sprinkle the blue cheese and toasted sesame seeds. Season with the remaining salt, pepper, and garlic granulate. Drizzle the prepared mustard on top.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until the blue cheese melts.
6. Sprinkle chopped basil on top, if desired.

The natural sweetness of the beets brings out the best of this savory pie. The blue cheese gives it just enough a kick and the toasted sesame makes it oh-so-fragrant. Overall, very tasty, maybe a little addictive.