by Nicholas Oconnor, Prepared Foods & Cheese Category Manager
Hello! I am really excited to report on some of the new additions to our Prepared Foods program and let everyone know what is happening now and in the very near future with pies (and quiche) at the Willy Street Co-op!
But First a Brief History…
Years ago, as many will remember, we had a robust pie- (and crust-) making program. We used to have a dough/pastry sheeter, which is an industrial piece of equipment used to roll out dough consistently and quickly. It broke several years ago and was never replaced. We are all very happy to say we have purchased a new one and we have been developing our internal systems to begin using it to its full potential!
Pie Crusts
This past holiday season, we were once again able to offer our popular homemade Classic Pie Crusts (2-pack), found in the frozen section at each store. We have received a lot of requests for our pie crusts, so we are really excited to be able to bring them back! We saw a really great reception for these this past November and December and have had a lot of good feedback about them.
There is now something extra special about these hand-crimped shells. Since we transitioned all of our wheat flour at our Production Kitchen to be 100% locally grown and milled flour from Meadowlark, our Classic Pie Crusts are now made from 100% local ingredients, as they are simply flour, butter (also local), and water.
Along with the return of our frozen crusts, I’m happy to report we have moved to using our in-house crust in all of our pies and quiche that already contain dairy and wheat, making our pies and quiche program even more distinct and unique to the Willy Street Co-op.
If you prefer the made-without-gluten (MWOG) pies, rest assured we are not planning any changes at this time, so don’t worry! In the future, we are planning to offer a vegan version of our Classic Pie Crusts, so our vegan shoppers can look forward to a new crust for their homemade baking!
Holiday Pies/Seasonal/Mini Pies
We are also making some exciting changes to what goes inside the crust! Over the past few years, most of our ‘pie’ effort has been focused on our holiday pies (from mid-October through December) offering flavors such as Pecan, Cherry, Apple, and Pumpkin, with vegan/made-without-gluten (MWOG) options for the Apple and Pumpkin varieties. That being said, we will be looking to change things up during the 2023 holiday season and offer some new flavors for your holiday!
As we go through the rest of the year, we are going to be offering a variety of rotating menu items, specifically with pies. Our plan is to introduce flavors such as Blueberry, Strawberry Rhubarb, Buttermilk, and Cranberry Apple. The new flavors will be offered in a new size pie, which we are calling a ‘Mini Pie.’ They will have hand crimped crusts, they will be six inches in diameter and they will come in a small craft box.
The new Mini Pies will replace the half pies that we previously offered. The half pies were a nice offering, but we have found they were prone to breaking and they required a significant amount of labor to maintain. Our hopes are that the new Mini Pies will serve the same purpose as the half pies and they will be a hit!
Pot Pies
In conjunction with our sweet dessert pies, our Production Kitchen has plans to add some savory pot pies to the menu as well. We will start off by initially offering a classic Chicken and Vegetable Pot Pie and a Vegan Pot Pie too! These 6-inch personal-sized pot pies will come with reheat instructions for both refrigerated as well as from frozen in case you choose to freeze these and heat them up later and would make a tasty and easy lunch or dinner…but you could have them for breakfast too of course!
Quiche
While we’re talking about all of these crust filled delicacies, let’s talk about quiche. In May of 2022 we took on making quiche at our Production Kitchen in order to have better control over the quality, ingredients, and to introduce some variety to our menu. These 9-inch full size quiches are perfect for a family breakfast or brunch gathering with friends, and they are easy to bake off when you are ready! We have three options available; a vegetarian, vegetarian that is made-without-gluten (MWOG), and a made with meat option.
You will find that our vegetarian options change throughout the year to keep the menu rotating and keep things fresh. Our current rotation includes an Asparagus, Mozzarella, and Provolone Quiche in the spring, a Tomato and Mozzarella in the summer, and a Maple Roasted Vegetable in the fall and winter. For our meat version, we are currently making a Bacon, Potatoes, Mozzarella, Provolone, and Scallion quiche.
Let Me Know
If pies and quiche are your kind of thing, we hope you’re as excited about the new additions as we are and you’re able to try some for yourself. While we plan to start initially with 6-inch pies, if you are liking these but would like to see us make these as large, full-sized, options, write to me! Submit a customer comment and let us know what you think, what you love, and if you have a flavor idea we might want to try!