You may be thinking why snake ? In the vegan world animals are put to the forefront of our lives – we love them so much that some of us shape our food in their wondrous image. This came about as I wanted to make a pie with an unusual shape. So, as I toyed around with the pastry and coiled it for a while, my 5 year old daughter exclaimed ‘Mum that looks like a snake !’ So that is the shape we chose. Fun, amusing, interesting, and in so doing embracing and showing my appreciation of all snakes worldwide. A great party piece – but allow me to tell you the taste is impeccable, sublime, and ever so exotic. Originally an aspect of this pie was inspired by a local Maltese pie which includes fish – but this is all vegan, and is packed with rich flavours from the Mediterranean, and then just a hint of the orient with a sweet spice. You’re in for a surprise – a very pleasant one, I hope !
TIP : Serve with a very colourful, crunchy fresh salad, and drizzle on some dressing of your choice.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS FOR PASTRY
18 oz (500 g) vegan puff pastry (I bought ‘Jus-Rol’)
vegan milk for brushing
1½ Tbsp sesame seeds
INGREDIENTS FOR FILLING
olive oil for frying
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp hot curry powder
2 cups petit pois (baby frozen peas)
3 to 4 Tbsp tomato paste
¾ cup (180 mL) water
18 oz (½ kg) fresh spinach, or 6 balls of frozen spinach, thawed
12 black olives (dried salted ones – the wrinkled ones), pitted
2 Tbsp marinated capers
½ teaspoon of dried mint
2 Tbsp freshly chopped flat leaf parsley
2 Tbsp (30 mL) sweet chilli sauce
8 sundried tomato halves, roughly chopped
1 strip of Kombu sea-vegetable, roughly chopped
1 squeeze freshly squeezed lemon juice
METHOD
- Fry your shallots in a non-stick saucepan on a low heat, until they turn a little transparent.
- Then add your garlic and curry powder, and stir for a couple of minutes.
- Next, add the peas and tomato paste and continue stirring on a low heat. Cover, and allow to cook for 10 minutes, adding a little water at a time, so that the ingredients don’t stick.
- At this point, add the remaining ingredients and stir. Allow the mixture to cook for around 20 to 30 minutes – you should be left with a nice thick mixture.
- Now allow the filling to cool right down.
- Meanwhile on a clean surface, lightly dusted with flour, you need to take your pastry out, and cut it in three lengthways. Then join the three lengths end to end, to form a line in readiness for the ‘snake’ shape.
- Next, roll the pastry as long as you can lengthways and widthways – you are looking at rolling it to approximately 3 inches wide, or slightly less.
- Pre-heat your oven at this stage to 350ºF (180ºC).
- Now grease a reasonably shallow oven-proof dish approximately 12 inches in diameter. Then cut greaseproof paper to fit the base of the dish, and oil the paper a little using kitchen towel.
- Place the first 7 inches or so of pastry into it, and using a dessert spoon, start to fill the centre of the pastry with your filling, and then close the pastry on the top into a little fold to seal it.
- Continue doing this by placing the remaining pastry, section by section, into the dish in a circular shape, in order to create the ‘coil shape of a snake’ – and continue filling.
- Once you have reached the end, if you are left with a little more filling, despair not – you can heat this up, and eat with the finished dish, or enjoy with bread or toast.
- Now back to your ‘snake’. Go to one end of the ‘snake’, and stick two pieces of black olive on each side to give the impression of the eyes. Then find the tip of this end, and stick two thin pieces of sundried tomato, to give the impression of the tongue.
- Finally brush the pastry with some vegan milk, and top with sesame seeds. Place in the oven until golden. Allow 15 to 20 minutes before cutting and serving, as it will be way to hot to handle and serve. Enjoy !
All recipes, content & design © Miriam Sorrell www.mouthwateringvegan.com 2010
These are free recipes for your pleasure – all we ask in return is that you take a few moments to leave a constructive comment !
So glad to have stumbled upon this site! Love Mediterranean and Eastern cuisine!
Hi Miriam! I am so glad to have stumbled across your website. I have been a vegetarian for just over a year now and, as of the last few months, I’m slowly but surely adapting to the vegan lifestyle! I was so impressed by your recipes; I’ve already made a mental ‘to-cook’ list! I’m attempting your ‘Vegan Snake’ tonight. Can’t wait to try it! Next on the list is your ‘Lemon and Lime Coconut Cake!’ Thanks for the delicious recipes! L.
Laura Hi there and welcome here. Many thanks indeed for dropping by here with your wonderful comment and I very much look forward to your feedback and future comments on my blog. Very best to you in the meantime and hope you enjoy all my recipes ! Cheers.
Hi there Lynette and welcome here. Many thanks for dropping by here and I do hope you enjoy my vegan snake – let me know how it goes and Cheers to you in the meantime !
…and it was delicious! 🙂 I’ll definitely be making it again! Thanks Miriam!
Hi there Laura and thanks for your feedback – I am delighted that you have tried my Vegan Snake and that you will be making it again, that’s awesome news ! Cheers to you !
So glad to have your site – everything indeed does look mouth-watering! Bravo! 🙂
Hi there Kelly and thanks for dropping by with your compliment – hope you try a few recipes at some point. Best to you !
That filling looks delicious! And you can’t beat a bit of puff pastry 🙂
Hi Becca, yes the filling is truly sublime, and the puff pastry just off-sets it perfectly ! Thanks for your comment.
This looks delicious! I think I will give it a try this week!
Hi there Tatiana and welcome here. Thanks so much for dropping by here with your comment. Let me know how it goes and hope you enjoy this fun and delicious recipe. Best to you !
That looks sooooo delicious! If only I could find vegan puff pastry 🙁
Helga Hi there and welcome here. Thanks for dropping by here with your comment. I use JustRol puff pastry which is vegan (in spite of the pic on the packaging) here is the link http://www.jusrol.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=5 I don’t know whether you can purchase the same brand in your part of the world. Try googling to find a vegan ready made puff pastry – failing that there are a few homemade ones on the web, may be that will help. Let me know how it goes as and when. Best wishes your way in the meantime !
I took inspiration from this for dinner last night. I’m always looking for new ideas as I’m learning vegan cookery. I filled the pastry with a dahl of yellow chickpeas, spinach, tomatoes, grated coconut and spices and curry leaves. We had it with Indian style accompaniments and it was really nice. I’d have never thought to stuff puff-pastry in this way and look forward to trying out all types of fillings. You truly are an inspiration!
Hi Kim and thanks for dropping by here with your feedback. Both the pictures of the Vegan Snake and the Chocoholic’s Cheesecake recipe’s pics you posted up look good. I think that in part it’s people’s perception that it’s hard to be vegan. If the food is good it’s fun and very do-able ! Kudos to you for going with it. Look forward to your future comments on my blog !
This looks so delicious, I plan to make it tonight. The explanation of how to use the puff pastry was a little confusing though. Did you use all 18 ounces of dough? I don’t have much experience with using it, but I’ll try to figure it out.
Hi Carrie and thanks for your comment. I recall using all the pastry yes. As the recipe is not a conventional one, I think you may have to go a little with your eyes and gut feeling when using the dough for this – the other reason being I did not measure the snake as it was being shaped at the same time that I was folding the pastry to close it. Sorry I cannot be of more help. The outcome of the shape your snake turns out may not be identical to mine (it may be better), but the taste is great and it’s a lot of fun. Let me know how it goes and enjoy !