Sunshine Pie or Pasties

The cool Winter weather always makes me think of warming soups, pies and casseroles. For some time I have been making more plant based dishes or giving some of my recipes a ‘vegan makeover’. This pie is called a sunshine pie because of the large quantity of orange/yellow/red vegetables in the filling. These vegetables are high in vitamin A which the body converts to Vitamin D when exposed to relatively low or small amounts of sunshine. Make a large family sized pie or six pasties. I like to serve with green vegetable salad and a good tomato relish.

Although not in the recipe I will often add cheese to the pasties, this is a vegan soy cheese.

Roll out pastry into a rough circle, add filling and then shape into pasties pierce the pastry to create small holes for the steam to escape.

Make sure that you have a good mix of colourful vegetables, sometimes I add a teaspoon of fennel seeds.

This is the Miso / soybean paste that I use. It adds a delicious ‘umami ‘or savoury flavour.

 Utritional yeast also adds a savoury flavour that is a bit cheesy and contains lots of B vitamins.

When making the pie makes sure to mound up the filling or use a deep pie dish.

Sunshine Pie or Pasties

Filling 3 onions 3 cloves of garlic 2 carrots 1 small sweet potato 1 small wedge pumpkin 1 large parsnip 2 red capsicum 1 2 Tablespoons of Miso paste 2 Tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper Olive oil

Pastry 1 cup SR flour 1/2 cup wholemeal flour 125 g Nuttelex or other non dairy spread pinch of salt 3 Tablespoon water, approximately To assemble/finish the pie A little non dairy milk for glazing Sesame/poppy/nigella seeds

Make Filling

Cut up / dice onions and cook over low heat in a little olive oil, stir often and allow to colour but not burn. Crush garlic and add to onions.

Cut up / dice all vegetables into small pieces. I partially cook them in the microwave for 5 -8 minutes until just starting to soften.

Combine onion, vegetables, Miso, nutritional yeast and pepper, mix well and cook for a few more minutes. Taste the mixture Add more pepper and Miso if you think it needs more seasoning.

Place in the fridge to cool.

Make Pastry

Mix flours and salt together.

Rub butter into flour or process on pulse in food processor.

Add sufficient chilled water to make a firm but pliable dough or continue to pulse in food processor.

Knead lightly.

Cover pastry with a bowl and allow it to relax on bench for 10 to 20 minutes

Assemble Pie

Divide pastry into 1/3 and 2/3 balls of dough.

Roll out the large ball of pastry to 3mm thickness. It needs to be about the same size as the pie dish. (diameter and depth of sides)

Place the pastry into the greased/oiled pie tin or dish, allow the pastry to hang over the edges. Moisten the edges with a little milk or water.

Fill with the cooled vegetable mixture, mound it up.

Roll out the remaining pastry circle to form the lid.

Place lid on pie, press edges together. Decorate edges as desired and create a hole in the middle to allow steam to escape.

Brush a little milk over the top of the pie and sprinkle with seeds.

Bake at 180 deg C for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 170 and continue cooking until pastry is golden brown.

How to Make a Galette

A galette is really a type of free form pie. Often they are made by rolling or turning the edges back and leaving some of the filling exposed. I like this technique that has the filling totally enclosed particularly for savoury versions. Any filling can be used, however, it needs to be quite thick so that it doesn't ooze or leak out.

All that is required is two sheets of puff pastry, about two cups of filling and and egg for the glaze.

Here's How

Take each sheet of puff pastry and cut out a large circle. It is easiest to trace around a plate. Save the edges to make leaves for decoration. Place the first circle on a greased tray or tray lined with baking parchment.

Brush with egg wash made from a beaten egg.

Add filling of choice. For this version I used some odds and ends of cheese that were chopped into small dice and a cup of cooked, chopped mushrooms. Leave approximately 2 cm from the edge clear of filling.

Place the second circle on top.

Make a decorative edge by cutting into the edges approximately every 2 cm and then press with your finger. Make hole in the middle and pastry leaves from the scraps. Brush with more glaze.

Bake in a hot oven (200 deg C) until golden brown approximately 20 minutes.

Place cooked galette on a cooling rack and allow to cool slightly before serving.

Filling Suggeastions

Use  3/4 - 1 cup of very thick white sauce made by doubling the flour in the roux. Add cooked meat such as chicken or ham, cooked vegetables.

Choux Pastry

I rarely make choux pastry, however, there was a time when it seemed that I was making it all the time. Choux pastry is the base for profiteroles and eclairs.

It is not difficult to make with a food processor or heavy duty mixer although the beating by hand is hard work. The paste must be well beaten until glossy, this helps develop the gluten in the flour.

The paste is cooked and then eggs are beaten into the flour mixture.

The paste can be piped or spooned onto a tray or baking parchment.

If making profiteroles or puffs it is easy to just spoon the mixture onto the trays.

The puffs must go into a hot oven so that the high moisture content of the paste is converted to steam causing the puffs to expand and rise or puff up. Once cooked the heat is reduced so that the puffs can dry out inside, residual paste can be removed and the puffs returned to the oven to dry out further.

The yellow 'claggy' middle can be removed.

Fill puffs/ eclairs with whipped cream, pastry cream/custard or chocolate pastry cream/custard and ice with melted chocolate.

Profiteroles have a chocolate sauce.

A large puff filled with whipped cream and fresh berries are a delicious dessert.

Salambbo, puffs with whipped cream/custard filling and a toffee coating.

Choux Pastry

1 cup flour

1 cup water

125 g butter

3 eggs

Method

Put water and butter into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. 

Reduce the heat and then add the flour all at once and stir until the mixture forms a smooth ball.

Allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes then beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat thoroughly until mixture is glossy and smooth. Use a food processor or electric beater if you have one.

Cool thoroughly before using the mixture. It can be refrigerated.

Spoon or pipe the paste onto trays lined with baking parchment

Bake at 220 deg C for 15 - so minutes and then reduce the heat to 180 deg C.

Cook until golden brown.

Sausage Rolls

Not sure why I haven't shared this recipe before - sausage rolls are a staple in my finger food collection.  Once you get organised it is easy to make them in bulk. I cut them into a variety of sizes according to the end use, smaller bite sized rolls for finger foods and larger for light lunches. If making in bulk  just cook until meat has set and pastry pale golden colour so that they do not get too brown when reheated. Pack the sausage rolls into containers and freeze or refrigerate for two or three days. I like to mince the onion in a food processer and keep the mixture moist, add an extra egg yolk if necessary.

The basic recipe can have spices added or grated vegetables such as carrots and zucchini. Beef sausage mince can be replaced with any other sausage mince or by squeezing the filling from commercial sausages. I once made a delicious variety by using pork and fennel sausages with a little grated apple, however, the gourmet sausages are quite expensive and are something that I use for special occasions.

How To

Cut the pastry sheet in half and place the filling down on each half sheet of pastry. Filling may be piped or rolled into a sausage on a floured board.

Roll the pastry over the filling.

Make sure the filling is totally enclosed.

Cut sausage rolls into desired lengths and place on a tray. The tops can be decorated by snipping with scissors or 

Slashed diagonally with a sharp knife or blade. Glaze and sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. Bake in a hot oven (200 deg C)

Sausage Rolls

Meat Filling 500g sausage mince 1 small to medium onion, finely minced 1 egg 2/3 cup breadcrumbs, moistened with a little water. 1 teaspoon chicken stock powder black pepper

2 sheets puff pastry 1 egg  beaten with 1 tablespoon water Sesame seeds

Method

Lay sheets of pastry on the bench to defrost.

Combine all the filling ingredients and mix well.

Divide the mixture into four. Using floured hands and board create a sausage the length of the pastry from each quarter of the filling. Alternatively use a piping bag with a large nozzle.

Cut each sheet of pastry in half

Place a sausage along the middle of piece of pastry. Brush the edges of the pastry with egg wash.

Roll the pastry around each of the sausage mince rolls, making sure the pastry is totally enclosed.

Use scissors to cut a pattern down each of the long sausage rolls or cut diagonally with a sharp knife or blade.

Cut the long rolls into smaller pieces. For finger foods cut into 6 for larger cut into four or two.

Place individual sausage rolls on a tray lined with baking parchment. The seam should be on the bottom so that they do not unroll. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake in a hot oven (200 deg C) until cooked, the meat should be set and the pastry golden brown. Remove a little sooner if they are to be reheated. Small sausage rolls will cook in approximately 15 -20 minutes, allow longer for the larger and reduce heat to 180 deg C after the first 15 minutes.

Tarts or Pies

Tarts or pies, iced, plain or just a dust of icing sugar? Who would have thought that there could be so many variables for a mince pie.

Mince tarts seem to have replaced mince pies

Perhaps it is because there is less pastry in the tart and the little star decorations look festive on the fruit mince.

I can happily eat them all. Growing up it was the iced version, later I made pies dusted with icing sugar and now it is tarts with stars unless someone asks for an old fashioned mince pie.

This recipe comes from my friend Jean, her mince tarts are delicious. All my recipes are in a folder, one day I will retype the recipe but for now  I am happy to get the paper copy out of the folder.

Make the fruit mince a few weeks before Christmas so that the flavours mature and mellow. Use a commercial fruit mince if preferred. Add a little brandy and some grated apple to the commercial mixture for some extra flavour.

Make a  large tart for dessert. 

Blind bake the shell for twenty minutes and the add the fruit mince and some blueberries. Decorate with small pastry stars and bake a further twenty minutes. 

Allow to cool and cut into small wedges, serve with cream or icecream.

Chicken Filo Parcels

These were always a favourite with my son and very popular with my students. This is one of those meal ideas that do not need a recipe and good for those times when you need to extend the chicken to serve more people. 

I usually keep packet of Filo pastry in the fridge and always have cheese on hand. The ingredients can be varied but I like the combination of chicken, mushroom, tasty cheese and spring onion add a little garlic and some freshly ground black pepper.  Sun dried tomatoes, zucchini, olives and chopped oregano can be added for a more Italian styled parcel. The parcels can be made in advance and refrigerated until you need to cook them.

Chicken Filo Parcels

This is a guide to the amounts needed per person

2 sheets filo pastry

Diced chicken (Allow up to 1 chicken thigh or half a breast)

1/4 cup grated tasty cheese

1/2 - 1 spring onion, finely sliced

1 - 2 mushrooms, thinly sliced

A little crushed garlic and pepper to taste.

Sesame seeds to garnish

Cooking spray

Combine the filling ingredients and mix well.

Lay the two sheets of filo pastry on top of each other. Add a generous pile of the filling, leaving 2-3 cm from the edge.

Fold the bottom up so that the filling is enclosed

Then fold in the sides. The parcel needs to be firm, continue to roll the parcel up.

Place the parcel on a tray lined with baking parchment making sure that the end is on the bottom of the tray to prevent it from curling or unrolling. 

Spray lightly with cooking spray and  sprinkle with sesame seeds. 

Bake in a hot oven (200 deg C) for ten minutes then reduce heat and cook a further 15 minutes until the pastry is golden. 

Allow to sit on the tray for a few minutes and then carefully remove with a large spatula.

Mushroom & Taleggio Tart

It has been a tart and quiche baking day, mostly for a shared lunch function later in the week. A quiche reheats well and can be made in advance. I use a variety of tins depending on the size needed. I often use commercial puff pastry sheets, it gives a lovely flaky pastry, requires no rolling and the sheets can be overlapped and pressed together to fit into any tin.

Mushrooms and Taleggio cheese are a great combination and make a really flavoursome vegetarian option. The mushrooms should be pre cooked to reduce excess moisture in the filling. The tart is a thinner version of a quiche and is made in loose bottomed rectangular flan/tart tin. 

Here's How

Cook the mushrooms first , evaporate all liquid and allow them to cool then add the spring onions. Season with freshly ground black pepper and some chopped thyme and parsley if desired.

Line the tin with two sheets, overlap and squash the pastry where it overlaps.

Add mushroom mixture

Place pieces of Taleggio or cheese of choice on top

Pour the egg mixture over the mushroom filling and bake in a very hot oven(200 deg C) until pastry is puffed and golden brown and the filling set.

You will need

2 sheets puff pastry

500g mushrooms, slices

A little oil to fry mushrooms

4 spring onions, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Taleggio cheese or use  tasty, Meredith Goat Cheese or combination of cheeses.

4 eggs

1 cup of milk

1 cup cream

Freshly ground black pepper