Mole Skillet Pie With Greens

I was going to start this entry by whining about how long this meal took (2 hours from start to finish), but once I put the first bite in my mouth, all was forgiven.

This was warm, both literally and metaphorically, rich, comforting and so damn good. It was a near perfect blend of sweet, salty and spicy. The topping had just the right combination of moistness and fluffiness with just a bit of a crust on the very top. We were impressed.

I've never made mole sauce before, and admittedly, have not been a huge fan of it until today, but it was so worth the effort. Making this was actually the hardest and most time-consuming part of this dish, so if you can make it ahead of time, do so. I *strongly* encourage that. The good news is that it made twice what I needed so I froze the other half and will be making this dish again soon.

The only thing I might do differently next time, more out of just to try it than a pure preference, would be to use spinach instead of the collard greens I used. The collard greens were great and had a nice chew to them, but next time I'd like to use the more tender spinach so every bite just melts in my mouth. Then we'll see which we like better. This was also the first time I'd made anything with fresh collard greens. I had no idea they were these huge leaves and that they repelled water like leather.

I actually made this dish in a traditional casserole dish. Stupid me, I got all the way to the end and then told Bryan that I needed a skillet to cook this in. He says to me, "David, it's a skillet pie." Of course I was just thinking that was a cute name, but no, they really meant it literally. Yeah, I'm a bit dense sometimes, too. That, in addition to my laziness.

This would make the perfect meal on one of the first chilly days of fall. Since we probably have one of those coming up very soon here in Seattle, I'll be planning on that.

This is on page 156 of Veganomicon.