THE HOME COOK : Pie Scraper--How to Carry Five Pies

If you ever need to schlep food to a meeting, a party or a bake sale, the Shakers could teach you how to do it so nothing falls apart or sloshes all over the back of the car.

The Shakers were members of a religious sect who first settled in New York in 1776. They were noted for their inventiveness, and one of their solutions for carrying fragile food efficiently was called “stacked pies.” They would stack four or five pies on top of each other and neatly transport them to church, where the stack would then be cut into thin serving slices.

We can learn a lot more from the Shakers than how to move food from place to place. They had a wonderful way with food and gardening. Their cooking was truly provincial, simple and natural, with no worldly tricks, as Evan Jones observes in his introduction to the book “The Best of Shaker Cooking.” He gives examples of the way garden herbs gracefully enhanced plain food, as in the recipe called “Sister Abigail’s Blue Flower Omelet,” where the eggs and chive blossoms blend into a lovely, delicate dish. The gardens, woods and fields were all part of the Shaker kitchen.

We can still capture some of the pure and natural Shaker principles in cooking if we remember that making food fancy doesn’t necessarily make it better. The recipes for a complete lunch or supper are adaptations in the spirit of the Shakers. I have framed each dish in tart pastry so they can be “stacked tarts” and moved with ease.

The fresh tomato-basil tart is a salad in a tart. The pastry acts as bread and a plate, so you can eat the salad casually. The combination of tomato, fresh basil and bacon is very good. Don’t add the salad to the tart until it is time to serve and eat it.

The summer squash tart is an adaptation from the cookbook by Sister Frances A. Carr, “Shaker Your Plate: Of Shaker Cooks and Cooking.” This is a perfect example of the Shaker blending of good flavors with the practical bonus that the dish can be served hot or cold.

The Shaker cookbooks are available at Shaker Shops West, 5 Inverness Way, Inverness, Calif., (415) 669-7256.

FRESH TOMATO-BASIL TART

1 baked (9-inch) tart or pie shell

3/4 pound tomatoes, thickly sliced

Coarse salt

Freshly ground pepper

6 slices smoky bacon, fried crisp and crumbled

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon water

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

Don’t assemble tart until serving time. Line tart shell with thick slices tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix bacon and basil and sprinkle evenly over tomatoes. Combine vinegar, water and salt in small bowl, stir to dissolve salt. Stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. Drizzle mixture over salad. Drizzle over remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. Slice into wedges and serve. Makes 1 (9-inch) tart or pie.

SUMMER SQUASH TART

1 1/2 pounds mixed zucchini and yellow crookneck squash, sliced

1 1/2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

1 onion, finely chopped

Salt, pepper

1 (9-inch) baked tart or pie shell

Combine squash, water and salt in saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until just tender. Drain well.

Divide squash in half. Combine 1/2 squash mixture with melted butter in bowl. Coarsely mash mixture. Stir in eggs, sour cream and onion. Gently stir in remaining 1/2 sliced squash. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread in baked shell and bake at 350 degrees about 20 minutes, or until knife comes out clean when inserted in center. Serve hot or cold. Makes 1 (9-inch) tart or pie.