Page 16 - Pie Squared

appeared in magazines and on blogs, and Pinterest is packed with
slab pie images. It could be argued that baking sheet quiches, a

staple of ’80s cocktail parties, were the precursor to savory slab pies.
It’s no wonder slab pies are welcome at potlucks, church socials,
and neighborhood parties. In so many ways, there is no better
contribution to a gathering than a slab pie. Slab pies are economical,

easily transportable, and easy to portion out to serve a crowd.

Without even realizing it, I began to abandon the glass and
ceramic round pie pans stacked in a drawer. The first slab pies I

made were baked in a half sheet pan, 18 by 13 inches. Soon I
realized that, while it might be the perfect size for a huge crowd, I
wanted a slab pie that better suited the family dinner table. A
different rectangular baking sheet, a quarter sheet pan 9 by 13

inches and just an inch high, fit the bill. And from that day forward, all
my pies had corners: pie-squared.
I began to create recipes, playing with sweet and savory options.
Over four months, I made 193 slab pies. At the end of my

experimentation, after more than 70 pounds of all-purpose flour and
nearly 60 pounds of unsalted butter, I had tweaked and nudged,