What a pie ! One of the best I have ever tasted. Its unique flavours lend themselves for a great treat to share with friends (non-vegans will love this). It is so packed with flavours, great texture, and a wonderful aroma. My fussy young daughter went for seconds and that’s quite something !
Serves 8 generous portions (depending on appetite).
INGREDIENTS
3 to 4 Tbsp olive oil for frying
2 to 3 cloves garlic, sliced into thin slithers
4 cups pumpkin, cut into inch squares
3 cups mushrooms, cut into slices
3 medium sized potatoes, pre-boiled, then cut into ½ inch slices (and set aside)
1 cup petit pois, or sweetcorn
3 tsp tomato paste
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp of crushed cardamom seeds or powder
Himalayan Salt to taste
1½ tsp veg stock granules
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 cup cashew nuts
1½ cups water
PASTRY
¾ kg plain unbleached flour
½ cup quinoa flour
170 ml melted coconut oil
approx ½ cup (125 ml) water – more or less, depending on how your food mixer processes the dough, see method below).
METHOD FOR FILLING
- Having peeled, and then pre-boiled your potatoes, set them aside covered.
- Now heat up your oil slightly in a large saucepan, and gently fry your garlic. Stir it around, so that it does not burn, then add all the pumpkin and mushrooms. Continue stirring, and stir in the tomato paste, cardamom, and onion powder. Lower the heat, add the petit pois (or sweetcorn, if you prefer) and cover, and cook long enough for the pumpkin to soften.
- Meanwhile process the cashew nuts, water, veg stock granules and red bell pepper. In your food processor until smooth.
- Pour your processed pimento cream into the pumpkin and mushroom mix, and stir, keeping your heat low. Cover, and allow to simmer for around 10-15 minutes – keep a watch out for it though, as the processed nuts tend to make it thicken rather fast.
- Finally add salt, stir and taste – this is not a dessert, so it will need salt. Then turn off the heat, and leave to cool uncovered for at least 15 minutes.
METHOD FOR THE DOUGH
- Place the flours in your food processor, and process for 20 seconds.
- Now add the oil a little at a time whilst the dough is spinning, and then start adding water slowly until it forms a ball – at that point, it is ready. It’s then best to let it rest for a few minutes in the fridge.
- Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 400ºF (200ºC).
- Remove from fridge, and place your dough on a clean and flour-dusted surface.
- Cut it in 2, one piece slightly larger than the other, as the top piece won’t need as much as the bottom, which has to allow for the sides.
- Next roll it to the size of your pre-greased oven dish (mine was a shallow pan – 13” x 10”x 1”).
- Once your base has been rolled, and fitted into your dish, you may wish to slightly bake it in the oven first for 10 minutes, then remove and allow to cool for 5 minutes – however, time was not on my side, so I poured the filling in gently, and with a large spoon I evened it out.
- Next, place your pre-cooked potato pieces on top, then cover with the remaining pastry, having rolled it to size. Be sure to leave a few fork marks on the edges, so that it adheres to the side of the pan, and does not move away from the edges and corners. Now pierce it, so the filling can breathe.
- Place in your hot oven, covered with foil for the first 20 minutes, then uncover until golden on top.
- Remove from oven, leave to cool for 20 minutes, then cut to size and serve. Enjoy !
All recipes and content © Miriam Sorrell www.mouthwateringvegan.com 2010
look delish! can this be frosen before cooking in oven?
Cynthia Hi, rather than freeze it once prepared and prior to baking (I haven’t tried freezing this pie myself) I suggest partially cooking it, so that the dough does not go soggy on you when you defrost and then bake. So follow the recipe, par cook it in the oven for say 20 minutes, then take it out, allow it to cool completely (score the pie into portions in advance), then freeze. You can then cook it from frozen – place in a pre-heated oven, cover with foil for the 1st 15 minutes or so to actually heat it up, then uncover, dot it with vegan margarine or the equivalent and allow it to get a golden colour on top, and voila, it’s ready to serve up – you will be able to take the portions out easier this way. Oh, one last tip, be sure to grease your pie dish/container very well if your intentions are to freeze the pie, that extra veg grease will come in handy when serving each portion in one piece. Let me know how it goes as and when ! 🙂
I prepared this dish for the first time tonight and I so far have had 3 servings, it is that good! I had no access to quinoa or unbleached flour so i was forced to buy regular flour and i combined it with King Arthur gluten free whole wheat flour for the crust. Since pumpkin is not available in my area yet i substituted yams, for the cardamom (since i was not able to find) i used half each of cinnammon and nutmeg.And i used dehydrated onion flakes for the powder. I will definitely make this dish again but i will use quinoa flour. Thanks!
Hi Jaime, so glad you made and enjoyed it, the substitutes you used sound fine, but quinoa flour next time will be good to try out. Best your way and enjoy the other recipes from my blog ! 🙂
Miriam, The flavours in this pie are incredible, reminiscent of Thanksgiving yet so unique and comforting at the same time. This was made as a family effort between my step daughter, her dad cutting the pumpkin and myself. After our first piece we gave each other a “high five”. I restrained myself after 2 and a half servings and they both had 3rds (and they weren’t little pieces). One piece was saved for her school lunch! I’m saving this recipe and sending the link to share! We had a bit of left over filling as we used a smaller dish (just the 3 of us) so today I will line some muffin tins with vegan puff pastry and use the rest of the filling in the cups. Can’t wait! Thanks for yet another fabulous vegan meal!
Carrie Hi there. That’s what I call a super successful outcome, so glad you all enjoyed it thoroughly and am sure you will be making this savoury treat again ! 🙂