Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

I am known to be rather partial to eating and cooking vegetarian food, in fact I would list my favourite food as vegetables. With one exception.....
On a recent trip down south I opened the car window to get a bit of fresh air and a better look at the countryside (and the little lambs - is it me or are they arriving earlier every year?) and noted flocks of sheep eating turnips. Mmmmmmm.... The only vegetable I don't like is turnips.The smell from fields of turnips is not that pleasant and the experience reminded me why I don't like them, its not the taste but the smell of them cooking that quite puts me off eating them. Give me a roast parsnip any day!
Anyway back to the task at hand, my Shepherds Pie.....
This 'pie' is delicious, economical, nutritious and a nice change from using meat (and not a turnip in sight). It is a simple dish that can be prepared in advance and easily adjusted for Vegans, by converting the dairy products and soya sauce to your taste.  Children will love it, just tell them it is fancy baked beans with mashed potatoes!
To make the dish a bit different and special, you may like to make individual pies in ramekins, just adjust the time in the oven accordingly.

Ready for the oven

I have cooked it a couple of times now, it feeds two people for a week!! and a very hungry family of four (with plenty left over for lunch the next day).

Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie – Alison and Simon Holst -Dominion Post July 2013

For 4-6 servings

Ingredients

6 medium potatoes

2 tbsp butter

1 cup grated cheese

¼- ½ cup of milk

2 tbsp canola or other cooking oil

2 large onions, diced

1 red or green pepper, diced

3 tbsp flour

1 tsp vegetable stock

1 tsp each of dried basil, oregano and paprika

1 tbsp dark soya sauce

1½ cups water, beer, wine, bean liquid and/or the potato cooking liquid

2 tbsp tomato paste

400gram can of red kidney beans (or 2 x 300g cans for a larger dish), drained and rinsed

Method

Simmer thinly peeled, chopped potatoes in lightly salted water until tender, drain, saving the cooking liquid in case you want to use it later.

Mash the potatoes, stir in the butter, half the grated cheese and enough milk to make a fairly soft consistency.  After mashing, beat potatoes with a fork until light and fluffy.

Heat the oil in a large pot or fry-pan. Add the diced onions and cook until tender and well browned.

Add the chopped pepper and flour and stir until the flour is lightly browned too.

Add the remaining ingredients except the beans and bring to the boil, stirring constantly.

Then add the beans (if desired mash the beans first – I prefer not to do this step and just leave them whole).

Spread the bean mixture into a lightly sprayed baking pan (about 20x25cm) and cover with spoonfuls of the mashed potatoes, spreading so all the bean mixture is covered.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the surface. If not using immediately, refrigerate until needed.

Bake at 180° C for 20-30 minutes.

If you wish, this dish can be heated in the microwave until centre feels hot,  brown the top under the grill before serving.

Yum!

Cheesy Vegetarian Pie

It is a gloriously sunny day here today but during a recent recent sudden drop in temperature  I had an inkling for comfort food!
For me, pies are a great comfort food and they work well as a food gift cos they can be easily transported from A to B when a delivery is required. Two friends of mine were recently in need of a bit of food love, one was in the middle of shifting (with a little baby and all the work that involves) and the other friend has been very ill with pneumonia while still trying to care for her family and coordinate for a charity. I felt it was time to provide them a bit of comfort through food. (I gather they have been overwhelmed with help from friends and neighbours which reminds me of the very goodness of people in the world).
This recipe morphed into Cheesy Vegetarian Pies from a number of recipes in my files and from the dozens of tins in my pantry! (I had to use some of them.....my husband remarked there was very little room left in our pantry!). While sorting out the recipe I was reminded by said husband that he was not that fond of pastry, only pastry made with wholemeal flour. Mmmmm...
The pastry for this recipe came from an old Christchurch Press cutting, there is no date but the article is attributed to Judith Sutton. It would be at least 10 years old I think.
The addition of yoghurt in the pastry was a little unusual but I gave it a try. The result was a surprisingly light, tasty pastry that had the correct amount of crumbleness - if there such a word, but you will understand what I mean when you take your first bite!
You could let your imagination run wild with the filling, one of my vege pie recipes included silver beet, one had cauliflower and peas. The cauliflower was left out for these pies but I added them into the filling leftovers I had put aside for our dinner that night (absolutely delicious served on brown rice).
The beauty of using tinned Indian tomatoes for the filling is that you have all your spices in the mix but you could add a little more chilli if that is to your liking.
These pies will keep well for a few days in a airtight container in the fridge and can be frozen. Great to whip out and heat up for lunch on a cold winters day - just perfect with a generous blob of homemade tomato sauce on top too. You could also make these into mini vege pies (for lunch boxes) using muffin tins but making them as turnovers is a lot less fiddly.
The tasting feedback from one of my friends was very positive so this pastry has become the standard in my kitchen when making savoury pies.
Pastry for Cheesy Vegetarian Pies
1 c wholemeal flour
1 c plain flour
125g butter - cold from the fridge and diced
1/2 cup grated cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 to 1/3 cup plain yoghurt
Place flours, butter, cheese, salt and baking powder together in a food processor and blend until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Use the pulse button and add a little yoghurt a spoonful at a time to bind the dough together. (This step is important as you need to get the consistency just right - not too wet, not too dry). If necessary add a few teaspoons of cold water. (I needed to do this). Roll pastry into a cylindrical shape. Cover in cling wrap and place in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will perfect the pastry.

To make the filling 
About 3-4 cups of peeled and diced pumpkin, kumara and Agria potatoes
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 - 2 tins of Watties Indian tomatoes (add them one at a time)
1 tin of whole kernal corn
Melted butter and Poppy or Sesame seeds for sprinkling on the top
Dice the pumpkin, kumara and potatoes, spray with a little cooking oil and gently roast in a shallow roasting tray for about 10 - 15 minutes until cooked  (you could boil them but I think it gives nicer flavour doing it this way).
Gently saute the onion and garlic until soft. Add the cooked vegetables and one tin of Indian tomato mix and a tin of drained corn. Gently stir until combined, if you feel a little more liquid is needed add the second tin but you don't want the mixture too sloppy. Simmer for a few minutes then put aside to cool. You shouldn't need to season but best to do a taste check.

To make and assemble pies
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Divide pastry into 6-8 equal pieces, on lightly floured board roll each piece into a circle and lightly brush the edges with a little water. Divide the filling between the circles (don't overfill), fold the pastry over and seal by pleating or forking the edges together. Brush the top with a little melted butter, sprinkle with either sesame or poppy seeds and a few grains of salt.
Bake on an oiled tray for about 15 minutes until both sides are cooked. The smell of pies in the oven - yum!

Catering - ladies a plate

I volunteer for a great charity called Dress for Success www.dressforsuccess.org/wellington and I am often asked to help cater at events to help raise money and the organisation's profile. I have a large file of 'party recipes', a few tried and true but for this event I had time to experiment with something new.

One of the things I like about living in our Capital is the CBD is very compact and you often 'bump into' people you know. Ruth Pretty is a well known chef in Wellington - I collect her recipes as they are really interesting, tasty and easy to do. I met her in a cafe recently, she has supported Dress for Success over the years so I thought I would give her a 'plug' and use one of her recipes for this event. I was really pleased with the outcome - it was a winner and had the added advantage of being suitable for vegetarians. Finely chopping the vegetables is a little time consuming but you could do that little job beforehand (over a glass of wine and it is done in no time!). I did think about putting them in my blender but thought they would make them too fine to roast properly.

These little pies are really yummy and they have the lovely tasty surprise of the hidden blue cheese when you bite into them.

Little Roasted Vegetable Pies (Ruth Pretty recipe in Dominion Post 14th June 2008)

 Makes 18 little pies but I made more than that as I doubled this recipe! They can be used straight away or placed in fridge to be reheated as required or frozen to use later, just thaw and reheat)

Ingredients

1/2 red onion (peeled and finely chopped)

1 shallot (peeled and finely chopped)

75g (1/2) red pepper (de-seeded and finely diced)

75g peeled pumpkin (finely diced)

75g zucchini - about 1 (finely diced) 

75g peeled kumara (finely diced)

25ml olive oil

flaky sea salt, freshly ground black pepper

200g puff pastry (I used ready rolled pastry sheets)

65g blue cheese (finely chopped)

65g cream cheese

1 egg lightly beaten - (only half required but as I doubled the recipe used a whole one)

2tsp finely grated Parmesan

Method

Use baking spray (Dot's spray is a must in my pantry) to lightly grease 24 mini muffin tins.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Celsius.Place prepared vegetables in a bowl add oil and toss together.

Spread vegetables in a single layer on a low sided baking tray (if it is too deep they steam instead of roasting). I use baking paper too to help with the cleaning up! Place vegetables in the oven and roast for 5 -10 minutes until 'al dente'. Season with salt and pepper and allow to cool.

If using block pastry roll out to 2mm thick. Cut rounds with a frilly cutter and gently press into greased muffin tins. Any off cuts can be laid onto of each other, rolled and cut out as well.

Place Blue cheese, cream cheese, beaten egg and Parmesan in a bowl and use a fork to combine. Place a small teaspoon of the mixture in each pastry case. Pile 1 heaped tablespoon of the vegetables (although I used a heaped dessert spoon as it seemed too much) on top of the blue cheese mixture and very gently press down to 'stabilise' the diced vegetables.

Rest pies in the fridge for about 30 mins. 

Preheat oven to 210 degrees Celsius. Bake pies for 10-15 minutes or until pastry is cooked through and golden brown. When cool remove from tins. 

Catering - ladies a plate

I volunteer for a great charity called Dress for Success www.dressforsuccess.org/wellington and I am often asked to help cater at events to help raise money and the organisation's profile. I have a large file of 'party recipes', a few tried and true but for this event I had time to experiment with something new.

One of the things I like about living in our Capital is the CBD is very compact and you often 'bump into' people you know. Ruth Pretty is a well known chef in Wellington - I collect her recipes as they are really interesting, tasty and easy to do. I met her in a cafe recently, she has supported Dress for Success over the years so I thought I would give her a 'plug' and use one of her recipes for this event. I was really pleased with the outcome - it was a winner and had the added advantage of being suitable for vegetarians. Finely chopping the vegetables is a little time consuming but you could do that little job beforehand (over a glass of wine and it is done in no time!). I did think about putting them in my blender but thought they would make them too fine to roast properly.

These little pies are really yummy and they have the lovely tasty surprise of the hidden blue cheese when you bite into them.

Little Roasted Vegetable Pies (Ruth Pretty recipe in Dominion Post 14th June 2008)

 Makes 18 little pies but I made more than that as I doubled this recipe! They can be used straight away or placed in fridge to be reheated as required or frozen to use later, just thaw and reheat)

Ingredients

1/2 red onion (peeled and finely chopped)

1 shallot (peeled and finely chopped)

75g (1/2) red pepper (de-seeded and finely diced)

75g peeled pumpkin (finely diced)

75g zucchini - about 1 (finely diced) 

75g peeled kumara (finely diced)

25ml olive oil

flaky sea salt, freshly ground black pepper

200g puff pastry (I used ready rolled pastry sheets)

65g blue cheese (finely chopped)

65g cream cheese

1 egg lightly beaten - (only half required but as I doubled the recipe used a whole one)

2tsp finely grated Parmesan

Method

Use baking spray (Dot's spray is a must in my pantry) to lightly grease 24 mini muffin tins.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Celsius.Place prepared vegetables in a bowl add oil and toss together.

Spread vegetables in a single layer on a low sided baking tray (if it is too deep they steam instead of roasting). I use baking paper too to help with the cleaning up! Place vegetables in the oven and roast for 5 -10 minutes until 'al dente'. Season with salt and pepper and allow to cool.

If using block pastry roll out to 2mm thick. Cut rounds with a frilly cutter and gently press into greased muffin tins. Any off cuts can be laid onto of each other, rolled and cut out as well.

Place Blue cheese, cream cheese, beaten egg and Parmesan in a bowl and use a fork to combine. Place a small teaspoon of the mixture in each pastry case. Pile 1 heaped tablespoon of the vegetables (although I used a heaped dessert spoon as it seemed too much) on top of the blue cheese mixture and very gently press down to 'stabilise' the diced vegetables.

Rest pies in the fridge for about 30 mins. 

Preheat oven to 210 degrees Celsius. Bake pies for 10-15 minutes or until pastry is cooked through and golden brown. When cool remove from tins.