Why is it that putting anything between two layers of pastry suddenly makes it magical?

As I wondered a few nights ago what to do with our vegetables to make them a little different, peering into the freezer for inspiration, I noticed some short crust pastry. I’d bought it by accident when shopping for puff pastry. I know, it says it right there on the front of the pack in really big letters, but I’m a perpetually tired mumma okay?!

Pie! I thought to myself. Hang on a minute, do I even know how to make a pie? If I’ve ever made a savoury pie, it hasn’t been in the past decade. Why is that I wonder? Like with the mac and cheese last week, I figured it couldn’t be too difficult. And it wasn’t.

And the best part? It was absolutely delicious. Even Love Bug, who is having an anti-love affair with brocci’s {broccoli} right now, asked for seconds!

So, what do you need?
2 sheets of ready made short crust pastry {gluten free for us, but if you don’t need gluten free then regular is fine}
rice {for blind baking}
half a brown onion
garlic, minced {one or two cloves, more if it’s cold and flu season!}
1 cup of milk {I’m testing some non-dairy milks at the moment so this week I used almond milk}
1 teaspoon of organic tomato paste
2/3 cup of grated cheese {the choice is yours, we had tasty cheese in the fridge this week}
butter {I’m a Lurpak girl}
1 teaspoon of Massel stock
half a cup of plain flour {gluten free for us}
salt & pepper to taste
1 medium sweet potato, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 cup of broccoli, roughly chopped
1/2 cup of cauliflower, roughly chopped
1/4 red capsicum, finely diced
1 tin organic lentils
1 egg, lightly whisked

Okay, now what do you do with it?
Pre heat your oven to 180C {350F}.

Butter pie dish and line with pastry. If you’re lucky like me and have a gorgeous sous chef, she’ll happily do it for you, then look ever so pleased with herself after!

Now it’s time to blind bake your pastry so that it doesn’t go all soggy. Line pastry with baking paper and pour in enough rice to cover the base and hold the baking paper down. Bake it for 8-10 minutes, remove the rice and paper and bake for a further 3-4 minutes.

While your pastry is baking, lightly steam your sweet potato, carrot, broccoli and cauliflower. Drain and rinse your lentils. Mix all your vegetables together and put to the side.

Take your pie case out of the oven and let it cool.

In a medium saucepan, brown some butter {approximately 2 tablespoons} and add in garlic and onion. Stir until onion is translucent then pop in your stock powder, tomato paste and diced capsicum. Simmer, stirring for 3-4 minutes.

Sprinkle your flour in and whisk it through, to form a thick colourful paste. Slowly add your milk in, stirring constantly. You don’t want your sauce to be too watery, so if you get to 3/4 cup of milk and you think that’s enough, stop.

Then stir through your cheese until it’s melted.

Throw your vegetables and lentils in and stir them through to ensure they’re well coated with your sauce. Taste test now and add salt and pepper if needed. I found we didn’t need any salt {the stock was enough of a salty addition}, but added a little pepper.

Pour your vegetable mixture into your pie dish, add your final layer of pastry over the top and pinch around the edges. Whisk your egg and wash the top layer of pastry so that it browns nicely.

We put a P for pie on top of ours {okay, you know me better than that – it’s a P for Poppy!} … if you’ve got left over pastry and a sous chef, adding something extra to the top is always fun. Next time we might get out our cookie cutters! Don’t forget to egg wash over the top of your decorations too. Don’t forget to prick the top layer of pastry with a fork or skewer – so the steam can escape without cracking your pie case.

Bake your pie for 30-35 minutes or until the top is nice and brown.

It is great to serve with a green salad and some slow roasted caramelised tomatoes.