It's KALE Day! Woot-woot! (Kale Hand Pies)

Do you know what today is?  It's Kale Day!

I know, I know.  That is a silly thing to be excited about.  Kale, Tiffany?  Really?

Yes, really.  We LOVE kale in our family.  Blame it on the Brazilian, but we love kale.

In honor of this very special day, I made some kale hand pies.  This was seriously one of the most time consuming recipes I have made recently.  And my kitchen was covered in flour afterwards.  But our taste buds and bellies were happy, so it's all good.  ALL good.

As the kale lovers we are, we have lots of great kale ideas:

Click any picture to be taken to the recipe.

White bean soup with kale and chicken sausage

Kale and cheddar biscuits

Kale quesadillas

Potato and kale pancakes

Kale and spinach green smoothies

Chicken and kale casserole

Sauteed kale with garlic

I told you we love kale ;)

Recipe adapted from Everyday Food, November 2011

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
• 1/2 cup ice water
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 10 ounces (about 1 1/2 links) sweet Italian sausage, casings removed (I used chicken sausage)
• 1 medium onion, diced medium
• 1 tart apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled and diced medium
• 1 bunch kale (3/4 pound), tough stems and ribs removed, leaves coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup cranberries
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• Egg yolk, for brushing

Directions

1. In a food processor, pulse flour, butter, and salt until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. With machine running, sprinkle with 1/4 cup ice water; pulse just until dough holds together when squeezed (if necessary, add up to 1/4 cup more water, 1 tablespoon at a time); do not overmix. Form dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate 30 minutes (or up to overnight).
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add sausage and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 6 minutes. Add apple, kale, and cranberries and cook until kale is almost tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; season with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to an 1/8-inch thickness. With a large round cookie cutter or small bowl, cut out eight 6- to 7-inch rounds (reroll scraps if necessary). Place 1/2 cup kale mixture in center of each round and fold over filling to form half-moons. With a fork, press edges firmly to seal. Place pies on baking sheets and brush with egg yolk.
4. Cut a small vent in each pie and bake until golden brown and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool slightly on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Cook's Note

To save time, use store-bought rolled pie dough to make the crusts for these hand pies.

COST: $7.28   COST PER PIE (8): $0.98