A rare couple of savoury recipes from me this week: a concession to my pancreas and my dentist, both imploring me to give it a rest with the sugar, for a while at least. The first is a veg-packed pie, stacked with carrots, aubergine and chard – good for lunchboxes or, if you’re lucky enough to enjoy a ray of autumnal sunshine, picnic boxes too. Next are rustic, hand-raised bean pies, warm with the kick of harissa and smoked paprika.
Spiced layered vegetable pie
Hot water crust pastry helps to give this pie the strength it needs to hold its shape in neat slices. And despite the unusual method – which goes against all the received wisdom about keeping everything cold for a good pastry – it’s far easier and less crumbly to roll out and shape than shortcrust, once you’ve conquered the dough.
Serves 8
For the hot water pastry
250g butter, firm not fridge-cold, cubed
400g plain flour
A large pinch of salt
90ml boiling water
1 egg, beaten with some salt, to glaze
For the filling
4 large carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled
Juice of ½ lemon
50g sesame seeds
8 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp paprika
200g swiss chard, roughly sliced
1 aubergine
1 Bring a large pan of water to the boil, then add the carrots and garlic cloves. Boil until the carrots are tender. Drain, then use a hand-held blender to puree the carrots and garlic together until smooth. Stir in the lemon juice and sesame seeds, season then cool.
2 Heat half the oil in a large frying pan then gently cook the onions with a pinch of salt for 10 minutes or so, until soft and translucent. Add the spices and fry for a further 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add half of this to the carrot mixture and stir well to combine. Return the other half to a low heat with the swiss chard, stirring gently for about 2 minutes until the leaves have wilted. Season again then leave to cool.
3 Prepare the aubergine by first cutting it in half across its width, to give two fat chunks, then thinly slicing these two pieces lengthways. They ought to be delicate, floppy slivers. If the slices hold rigid when held up by one corner, they’ve been sliced too thickly.
4 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. In a large bowl, rub the butter into the flour and salt. Pour in the boiling water and stir to combine, then use your hands to gather the mixture together. It should feel soft, pliable and slightly greasy. Knead very lightly for a few seconds, then leave it to cool and firm up, uncovered in its bowl, at room temperature. It’s ready when it’s no longer warm to the touch, and is stiff enough to be rolled and shaped without sticking or collapsing. On a lightly floured surface, roll out just over two-thirds of it to a circle roughly 25cm in diameter. Line a 20cm round springform or loose-bottomed cake tin with this circle, pressing neatly into the corners.
5 Now assemble the pie. Lay one third of the aubergine slices over the base of the pie, drizzle lightly with olive oil and season. Top with half of the carrot mixture. Repeat the aubergine layer, followed by all of the chard mixture, the final third of aubergine and then the remaining carrot mixture. If you have any aubergine slices left, you can top it off with these. Roll the rest of the pastry to a circle roughly 20cm in diameter, lay this over the pie and crimp the edges to seal. Brush with beaten egg and make an incision in the top, so that steam can escape as the pie filling cooks. Bake for 15 minutes then turn the oven down to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 and bake for a further 45 minutes.
6 You can eat this pie while it’s still hot, but I think it’s best cold, and even better the following day. Just leave it to cool in its tin before carefully unmoulding. It holds its shape better once cold, too: perfect for cutting into fat wedges for picnics.
Hand-raised spicy-bean pies
Shop-bought pastry isn’t just acceptable for these pies; it’s actually better for them than the more brittle homemade sort. That slight elasticity of readymade shortcrust pastry will make it far easier to shape the pie crusts, and it’ll give you far more time to handle the pastry without it becoming limp and greasy.
Makes 6-8
1 small onion
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 green pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp harissa paste
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tsp smoked paprika
A pinch of cayenne pepper
400g tin borlotti beans
400g tin butter beans
Salt and black pepper
500g shortcrust pastry
1 egg, beaten with some salt, to glaze
1 Dice the onion, carrot, celery and pepper to cubes no larger than 1cm or so. Gently heat the oil in a large pan then add the chopped vegetables. Put a lid on the pan and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. When the vegetables have softened, add the harissa, tomato puree, paprika and cayenne pepper and stir well to combine.
2 Drain the beans (keep one of the tins to help you mould the cases) and add them to the pan along with ½ cup (125ml) of water. Cook for 5 minutes more over a low heat, then season with plenty of salt and pepper and set aside to cool.
3 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Roll out the pastry on a well-floured work surface to a thickness of just under 5mm. Cut 6 circles from the pastry using an upside-down bowl as a guide – 15cm across is ideal. To hand-mould the pie crusts, put the reserved empty bean tin in the middle of a pastry circle and fold the pastry up around its edges, pleating it as you go, but taking care not to stick the dough to the tin. Gently shimmy the tin out and transfer the pastry cup to a large, lightly greased baking tray. Repeat with the remaining circles. Use the tin as a guide to cut out 6 pastry lids. If you have plenty of dough left, roll and mould one or two more pastry cases and matching lids.
4 Fill each pastry case with a couple of tablespoons of the cooled bean filling, then place a lid on each and pinch the edges firmly together to seal. Brush the pie tops with the beaten egg mixture (you can use a non-dairy milk alternative if you want to make these vegan) then make a small hole in the centre of each, for steam to escape. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is steaming hot.
