Imagine yourself bathed in Springtime sun, people-watching, a glass of crisp white wine in hand, at a chic little bistro in the Marais in Paris. When your lunch appears, there's a simple, vegetable pie accompanied by a small green salad and baguette. Want to make this pie at home with minimal effort and maximal rewards?
This savory pie makes an elegant main course, no matter the time of day. Bound together by a small amount of egg and cheese, its perfection lies in the balance of the rich custard and bright, flavorful vegetables. The addition of artichoke hearts takes me back to the French quiches that went down so easily as I toodled around Paris.
This dish is simple to assemble, yet very elegant and will surely please a crowd. My friends always clamor for just one more slice and I keep most of the ingredients on hand for impromptu savory pie feasting. This recipe is very adaptable. For example, I've tried spinach in place of kale, shredded carrots instead of the artichoke hearts, all variations have been successful, but my heart remains true to the lovely, delicious original.

Olive oil
4 eggs, beaten
8 ounces ricotta cheese
4 ounces Parmesan, grated
1 cup canned artichokes, chopped
1 bunch (3 to 4 large stalks) nero cavola kale, rib removed and leaves roughly chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan lightly with olive oil.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, ricotta cheese, and Parmesan. Roughly chop the artichokes and thinly slice the kale leaves and add to the cheese and egg mixture. Season lightly with salt and generously with black pepper Stir until combined.
Pour contents of bowl into the greased cake pan and drizzle with olive oil. Cook until custard is set, about 40 to 50 minutes. Cool on a wire wrack for 5 to 10 minutes and serve.
Serving Idea: Slivers of ripe avocado make a terrific garnish.
More 6 Ingredient Recipes on The Kitchn:
• Sherry-Garlic Soup with Smoked Paprika
• Quick Salmon & Couscous with Cilantro Vinaigrette
Related: Recipe: Savory Kabocha Tofu Pie
(Images: Leela Cyd Ross)
Kart Serving Tray b...

Comments (40)
wow...this looks amazing! making it tonight!
Frittatas are warm weather staple in my house and this sounds delicious and will have to try this.
Question: does the kale soften up while cooking?
This looks SO GOOD! But I think I would substitute spinach for kale, just because I can never find kale anywhere in my neighborhood.
Love, love, love. I've been looking for new ricotta recipes ever since I learned it takes about 10 minutes to make (and is so good!). Now I want to eat ricotta with everything...kale and artichokes sound perfect! 2 of my fav veggies.
In case anyone's interested, here's my ricotta recipe (though, they're pretty much everywhere on the internet...because it's so insanely easy!): http://eatlovedrink.com/2011/03/03/homemade-ricotta-who-knew-making-cheese-could-be-easy/
What size cake pan did you use?
yes the kale softens up, and i used a 9-inch cake pan, but have used other sizes with great results, just check for doneness at a faster time if you use a larger pan (about 30 minutes), and longer time (about 50 or so minutes) for a smaller, taller pan.
Oh, yummmmmm!!! Can't wait to try this out this week...Thanks!
In your picture it looks like a springform pan...I just got my first one and I'm always on the lookout for fun recipes
umm, omg, i want to devour that right now! thanks for posting this recipe. sounds simple and delicious!
I've got mine baking in the oven right now! I used store bought ricotta, but just saw the eatlovedrink post about homemade ricotta. Thanks so much for sharing that, I shall have to do that!
How is it that some people keep posting spam-type advertising in the comments section?
How much artichoke is contained in one can? If I wanted to substitute with carrot, roughly, how much carrot would that be?
Thank you!!!
I don't have a cake pan - can I bake this in a greased Le Creuset pot ? Thanks!
i think the (liberally) greased le Creuset might work, let it cool all the way before you try to pry the pie out -- you'll probably have better success that way, and if it comes out in a few sections, piece the pie back together (no one has to know about any culinary imperfections!). Good luck!
I love this dish and I'm loving the homemade ricotta - will have to do both very soon!
I made this for dinner tonight just as written and it is reeeaaaally good. Used TJ's artichokes from a jar.
yikes, i just made this and let's just say it did not turn out well at all. i thought i had misread something, but nope i followed all the instructions. it seemed like there wasn't enough egg/cheese mixture to hold everything together?
Hi Leela - would this work with a square brownie pan instead of a cake pan?
hmm... peaceofwestpila, not sure what's up -- the pie has very little egg/cheese mixture binding all those veggies together, but should turn out fine. not sure what went wrong? oven calibrated to proper temp? generously greased pan?
This was deliciously different. We served it with a crunchy baguette and a simple salad of greens with white-wine-vinegar-dijon vinaigrette. Loved the simplicity!
Well, I don't know if a bunch of kale is a standard measure, but maybe they vary a bit - I could only "fit" 2/3 of my bunch into the mixture. If I would have included the last 1/3 there definitely wouldn't have been enough egg/cheese mixture. As it was, with 2/3 of the bunch there was very little but it did turn out great...enjoying it right now!
Mine is in the oven now. I think I ran into the same problem as peaceofwestphila. Way too much kale and not enough custard. Maybe the kale will cook down. Crossing my fingers.
I made this today and it was lovely. I softened the kale, cooking with olive oil for 10 minutes before mixing it in with the rest of it. Also, I used a quiche pan and it cooked in 35 minutes. Thanks so much.
anyone ever made this ahead of time? how well does it reheat?
It reheats well, at least in pieces. I ate most of the one I made as leftovers over two days, and it was delicious every time. Usually I burn out on leftovers after two servings, but even after 4 servings, I was sad to see this one go.
I made this for Mother's Day for my Mommy and the rest of the fam...everyone loved it! I ended up adding a couple (well in 6 more to be exact) to the mixture as I ended up using a lot of Kale. I think I could have even used one more egg!
Easiest egg casserole/brunch recipe I've ever tried, and delicious! I used leftover steamed broccoli - next time I will make it with kale. Thanks.
Made this today...yum! Crowd pleaser at brunch and so easy to make. I did not use the entire bundle of kale, but when you mix in a handful at a time its easy to judge how much kale is enough. Will surely make this again.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was so delicious (and easy)! I softened the kale as suggested by closettherapist and substituted mozzarella for the parmesan as my husband doesn't like parmesan. Thank you for this recipe, I will definitely be making it a lot from now on!
This is is such a delicious pie! The proportions are easy to remember and you can substitute the vegtables.
I just made this and realized that one reason there are so many different outcomes regarding the lack of custard is that there are different kinds of kale. From the photo it is evident that you are using the nero variety which would break down a little faster than the curly kind and not be quite as bulky. I used curly kale and could only use 1/2 of the bunch. Even after getting it in the pan, I knew it wasn't going to work, so I poured another egg mixed with some milk over the top and worked it into the veggies before baking. It came out fine.
I just made this (substituting cheddar for the parmesan and asparagus for the artichokes) and it all came together well, but it is really thin, less then an inch high thin. I recommend doubling the recipe, making in the same pan and cooking it for longer.
I followed the recipe using spinach and artichokes. The end result was an over cooked and dry pie. I used a 9" pan and cooked the pie at 400 for 40 minuttes. I recommend that you watch the pie after 30 minutes to check for doneness. I will lower the temperature to 325-350 degrees to see if that helps. We loved the taste and concept - just not how dry it turned out.
Made this for dinner last night...so awesome! First time I've used kale in anything as it's usually hard to find around here, but it was wonderful. Thanks for the great recipe. I used about 3 1/2 stalks of kale in mine and a little over half a can of artichoke hearts and had no problem with the custard setting up. Served with some multi-grain baguette. This is definitely a keeper!
I made this with spinach instead of kale and it was delicious. Next time I think I'll use more eggs and less cheese because right now it just seems like way too much cheese. Also, you really don't need any extra salt since the Parmesan is salty.
I made this last night & it was delicious. I only had 3 eggs but had whites in the freezer so I substituted 2 whites for 1 of the eggs, with no problems. I used 1 tin of artichoke hearts, not sure if it = 1 cup or not but it was fine. I used about 2/3 bunch cavolo nero - 2-3 the number of stalks suggested - but they were narrow stalks. No need to pre blanch or soften. I added about 1/2 tsp salt, which was perfect. I cooked it 20 mins fan forced @ 200C, then topped it with flaked almonds (so they didn't over toast) & cooked it another 10 mins - this was enough. I cooked it in a 24cm terracotta Spanish cazuela sprayed with olive oil & this was fine - thick enough & came out no problem at all. I think I'd call it a tart rather than a pie as no lid, or perhaps a croustade when topped with almonds. I didn't use the avocado. I think it would be good served with pork chops or good-quality pork sausages. Or topped, once removed from oven, with prosciutto slices? Unless stated, I followed recipe exactly.
I know this has been around for a while but I made this dish last week and feel compelled to comment. We haven't seen kale yet at the store so I made this with swiss chard. Ohmygoodness. I thought it was good but the recipe made a lot and was worried I'd be stuck eating the whole thing myself as my fiance refuses to eat cooked greens (bad spinach/artichoke experience years ago). He called me at work last week to say "I don't know what this quiche thing is in the fridge but it's one of the best things you've ever made and we need to have it all this time". Can't say I disagree.
This dish is delicious! My family and I love it.
I have included it in my new weekly meal planning blog with a link back to this post, Thank you!
Has anyone tried this recipe in a pie crust? Hoping it will work for a potluck
This is now a regular dish in our Paleo household. I've tried different combinations, but our favorite is spinach, bacon, mushrooms, and asparagus. Yummmm! Thank you for this recipe!