I have a little list in my head of things I want to try.
Baking, crafting, gardening...
A mixture of odd bits and pieces!
One thing I have wanted to try for a long time was to bake a pie.
All from scratch, crust and top.
Another thing I have been desperate to attempt; lattice pastry.
Last night I did both in one super scrumptious meal.
Creamy Vegetable Pie.
I started with the pastry.
Later realizing that I had accidentally added 50g too much butter!
(But it was a good thing in the end)
I weaved my lattice pie top as I juggled phone calls, hungry kids and a puppy dog that wanted to sleep under my feet.
(Please forgive the instagram photos, I had my hands a bit too full to take photos with my big camera)
I was pretty happy with how it looked, not perfect and neat, but let's just call it rustic.
I looked at the recipe and shook my head.
No, I am going to skip that part, change it to this and save myself the extra dirty dishes, thank you!
Basically the recipe said to fry the onions and then steam the remaining vegetables separately.
Instead I fried the onions and added everything else to the same pot and popped a lid on, let it cook on a medium-low heat until it was nice and soft and the pumpkin had mashed into a creamy addition to the white sauce I was making.
I have some fussy quirks.
One is with pumpkin.
I don't like eating it unless it is pureed and in a recipe.
I will happily devour pumpkin soup, but not chunks of baked pumpkin alone.
No thanks!
Anyway, I roughly followed the recipe, though noticed that it never called for seasoning.
A must!!
After all my pie-making efforts I was finally rewarded with this...
Creamy, sweet pumpkin and vegetable filling and a light, flaky crust that melted in your mouth.
Oh dear.
It was perfect.
I was so proud of myself.
This is my first pie.
And it was a success!
Even my meat-eating husband
loved it!
So now I can tick these off my list, what next?
I love to challenge myself!
Creamy Vegetable Pie
Ingredients:
175g butter, chilled and chopped into cubes
2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup iced water
1 tablespoon oil
1 Medium onion, finely chopped
1 head broccoli, chopped into small florets
2 carrots, chopped
1/4 butternut pumpkin, diced
50g butter
1/4 cup plain flour
1 cup milk
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup grated cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten, for glazing
Method:
Place flour into a food processor and pulse for 5 seconds. Add cubed butter and process until mixture is fine and crumbly. Add iced water while processing, slowly. Keep processing until it comes together.
Turn onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Roll out one half and line your greased pie dish. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Roll out the remaining pastry to the same size and cut into strips. Lay half of the strips, spaced apart, onto a baking tray covered in cling wrap. Weave other strips to form a lattice pattern. Refrigerate until firm.
Preheat the oven to 180*C
Blind bake your pastry shell for 20 minutes.
(You can weigh the pastry down with baking paper and beans, lentils or rice. I like to leave it and just pop the bubbles with a small knife)
Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Fry the onion until soft, then add the other vegetables. Turn the heat down to medium-low and pop a lid on. Keep stirring as it slowly cooks and gently mash the pumpkin as you stir.
Heat the 50g of butter in a small saucepan. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the milk gradually, stirring until smooth between each addition. Stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture boils and thickens. Boil for 1 minute then remove from heat.
Add the egg yolks and cheese and stir until smooth.
Pour sauce over the vegetables and stir to combine.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
(I added some chopped parsley here for extra flavour)
Pour the mixture into the pastry case and brush the edges with the beaten egg.
Gently place the lattice on top and trim to fit. Brush with egg.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until crispy and golden.
