Ok my dears… a LOT of you messaged me and commented that you would LOVE this recipe from my IG post and I am MORE than happy to lay out here how to make this Caviar Pie because it is JUST THAT GOOD! Truly this is one of THE most requested recipes I have, Every.Single.Holiday! I am a HUGE fan of retro food… Tomato Aspic (hehe my husband is chuckling right now at the thought of the word); Shrimp Toasts, Oysters Rockefeller and this Caviar Pie which all mentally transport me to my Grandparents house a la Slim Aarons complete with Chic Caftans, Crafty Cocktails, tall tales and the WASPY wonderment that was life growing up.
This is a SUPER easy recipe. It can easily feed a crowd and you may literally watch your guests elbow each other to get prime real estate directly in front of it. It uses the very very basic Romanoff Caviar… the kind that comes in a jar, on the shelf of your local supermarket. No Beluga or Osetra here (both of which I would run you over with my car just to get close enough to be able to shovel spoonfuls into my grocery hole) which makes it even more of a Holiday MUST SERVE because it is affordable.
This recipe is adapted from the Romanoff version which may very well go back to the 70’s , but don’t quote me on it’s origination date. For the record I halved this recipe to make this cute 4″ version for just “the old ball and chain” and I for our Anniversary. Although truthfully, we probably could have eaten a whole darn full size version without batting an eye.
Caviar Pie
Serves 10 (or 4 of you are in my family)
6 hard-boiled eggs
3 Tblsp Mayonnaise
1 Cup Red Onion
8-oz Package Philadelphia Cream Cheese
2/3 Cup Sour Cream
2 each 2 ounce Jars Romanoff Black Lumpfish Caviar
Parsley and Fresh Lemon Slices for Garnish
MAKE IT:
- Lightly spray the inside of an 8” Springform pan with Vegetable oil then use a paper towel to remove most of the oil leaving just a very thin film.
- Pull Cream Cheese from the refrigerator and set aside to soften for 1 hour.
- Chop the Hard Boiled Eggs as you would for egg salad. Mix with the Mayonnaise.
- Spread the Egg Salad on the bottom of the of the Pan and smooth out with a spoon or off set spatula. You will want to firmly “smush” (official word) the egg salad layer as this is the base for your Pie.
- In a small food processor finely mince the Red Onion. You will want to be sure that you do not run the processor so long that the onions start to get watery.
- Spread the minced Onion on top of the Egg Salad layer and smooth out until level.
- In your food processor (cleaned out obviously) combine the softened Cream Cheese and Sour Cream and pulse until fully combined. Be sure to get the sides with a spatula and be sure that there are not any chunks of cream cheese remaining.
- Spread the Cream Cheese Mixture carefully on top of the Red Onion layer. Smooth out until level and “pretty”.
- Wrap the pan / pie in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours – over night.
SERVE IT:
Sorry, No pics of these steps as I was just cranking along and starving but you will be OK, just read along and let’s finish this baby up.
- Remove Pie from the fridge and unwrap.
- Using a fine mesh strainer drain and rinse the caviar. Continue to let drain for a few minutes to be sure that it is not too drippy. (this is all highly technical Chef speak btw).
- Spoon the caviar on the top of the Pie and smooth out until level.
- Carefully run a regular dinner knife around the inside edge between the pie and the pan. Be careful to stay along the pan as closely as possible.
- Carefully remove the spring mold edge of the pan. Keep the base of the pan under the Pie. You will NOT be removing this part of the pan(unless you want a big mess).
- Place the pie on your serving dish of choice (I use a cake stand btw) and garnish with fresh lemon slices and Parsley Springs.
- I serve this with traditional OLD LONDON CLASSIC MELBA TOASTS… the old school ones… not the “Sea Salt”, not the “whole Grain”… basic enriched white crunchy Melba toasts. If you can’t find these (They are becoming VERY hard to find) then you will want to use another benign cracker such as a water cracker.
- You can either allow guests to “have at it” by serving with just a spreader that they can help themselves with or dole it out “pie” style and serve your guests individually with a cake knife and server. Either way it will disappear FAST.
Enjoy!
XO,
Pippa
P.S… here is a classic retro pic of this Pie from long ago courtesy of the Internet… I mean.. need I say more?