Kale topped Sweet Potato and Cheese Pie: Meat Free Monday

I am a bit obsessed with kale at the moment. I’ve been having it stir fried for breakfast everyday with a grind of Himalayan salt, smoked paprika and a little garlic, flavours which just enhance the savoury taste of the kale. After making a kale pizza I can understand why people go mad for kale chips, although I have never made these, I very much enjoyed the topping of crispy seaweed like kale.

I wanted that crispiness again but this time on top of a deep filled cheesy sweet potato pie. I knew the flavours would match perfectly and I love the contrast between the soft gooey filling and the crisp kale.

You can omit the pastry since the pie dish is actually doing the job of keeping it all together but I was feeling indulgent so decided to include some pastry. I think it looks pretty

The filling is made from dairy free milk, eggs, sweet potato, onion, parsley and some garlic. I find it hard cooking savoury dishes using dairy free milk as even the unsweetened varieties have a hint of sweetness, especially rice and oat milks. I used an unsweetened hemp milk which was borderline savoury but I will definitely try it again with different milks to see what works best.

Pie Filling mixed together ready to be poured into the pie dishes

I have a confession to make – Scott decided the kale wasn’t for him so I ate both of these this weekend! One for lunch and one for dinner…on the same day!!! I’m feeling like a little pie piggy It was so nice to finally have time to get back into the kitchen however the problem with now doing all my cooking over saturday and sunday (because during the week I miss all the day light) is that I have lots of food to eat! I remember having this same issue last year so there are going to be lots of freezable meals coming up!

If you did omit the pastry however then there is nothing terribly bad in this pie, you can swap the sweet potatoes for any other potato or root veg but I did enjoy the sweetness and goodness of the lovely sweet potato. You can also play around with the herbs used depending on what you have growing in your garden or what you have left in the fridge. Keep to soft herbs though as they will be hidden in the pie filling and you don’t want anyone to choke!

I love how the kale which is submerged in the filling mixture remains a rich green colour and the top layer of kale which has been left dry turns a beautiful dark purple colour! The purple bits taste delicious and toasted but you keep the cabbage like flavour of the green parts.

Makes 2 small pies

1 tblspoon Pure Sunflower Butter
2 Onions2 Garlic Cloves
1 large Sweet Potato
2 Large Eggs
150ml milk (use unsweetened dairyfree)
50g Red Leicester Cheese – or cheddar will work fine too
1 Small Bunch Parsley
2 sheets Filo Pastry
2 Large handfuls of Kale to top the pies with
Olive Oil
Salt
Paprika

To prep the vegetables – Finely dice the onion and garlic. Peel the Sweet potato and cut it into bitesize chunks, making sure they’re all roughly the same size so they cook evenly. Chop the parsley and kale and put to one side until needed. Grate the cheese

Preheat the oven to 180c.

Place the diced sweet potato into a sauce pan and top with boiling water and cook untill the potato is soft but not over cooked (soft to touch but not falling apart). You could also steam it.

In a large saucepan melt the dairy free butter and add the onions and garlic and cook over a medium heat for approx 7-8 minutes untill softened. Drain the sweet potatoes and add to the sauce pan with a pinch of salt.

Beat the eggs then add to the milk and grated cheese and mix well. Combine the milk mixture with the onions and sweet potatoes and then add chopped parsley and give it a good stir again. Taste to check the seasoning.

Slice the filo pastry sheets in half so you have 4 pieces and line each pie dish with 2 pieces. Pour in the potato and onion mixture so that the pie is full to the brim. Carefully scrunch the edges of the pastry up to create a nice rustic border around the top of the pie dish.

Wipe down the frying pan you softened the onions in and add a little oil then add your chopped kale, a sprinkle of salt and paprika and stir untill the kale has wilted, approx 5 mins.

Pile the cooked kale on top of the pies then place them both on a baking tray and put in the oven for 35-40 minutes. They are ready when the filling has firmed up, the pastry is golden and the kale topping is crispy.

Whats your favourite way to use Kale?

Potato, Spinach and Sweetcorn Chowder Pie: A recipe revisited

To continue the theme of this first birthday month I have got another “Fix that dish” post where I have taken a recipe from my early blogging days which I felt could be improved and I have re-made it using my new knowledge and food ideals. Last week I freshened up my Quesadillas recipe and this week I have decided to look at my Spinach and Potato pies , a recipe which me and Scott both enjoyed but I just never felt it lived up to the creamy potato pie I was trying to create.

30th September 2011

6th August 2012

In my first recipe I layered a ‘creamy’ vegetable sauce in between very thinly sliced potatoes and topped it with filo pastry, I knew I wanted to keep the filo pastry lid because it made it a proper pie and I like the crunchy pastry contrasting with the filling. This time I began by thinking about what sort of potato dishes I had cooked in the past which I enjoyed and I remembered a summer many years ago when I went through a phase of cooking potato and sweet corn chowder every day for my lunch, I couldn’t get enough! If I could bulk this up and add some more vegetables this would be a great pie filling…and it was!

Chowder Pie Filling

I used pretty much the same ingredients as before except I swapped the vegetable stock for soya milk. If you’d rather have a less creamy pie then using vegetable stock will work fine. Using soya milk and extra light Philadelphia cream cheese makes these little pies under 300 calories (based on my fitness pal calculations) which means they are perfect as a treat.

Serves 4

2 Onions – chopped
1 Large Carrot – sliced
1 Leek – sliced
2 Medium sized Baking potatoes – peeled and diced
2 Garlic cloves – crushed
2 tspn Dried Thyme
300ml Soya Milk
3 tblspn Extra Light Philadelphia
2 tspn Wholegrain Mustard
200ml Water
1 tblspn Plain Flour
1 Handful Spinach
3 tblspn Sweetcorn
2 Filo Pastry Sheets

Preheat the oven to 200c.

Saute the onion, carrot, leek, potatoes and garlic in a pan for 5-6 minutes untill the veg has all began to soften. Then add the thyme and some salt and pepper.

In a jug mix the soya milk, cream cheese, mustard and 200ml water and mix well untill combined.

Add the flour to the vegetables in the pan and stir, then add the milk mixture, sweetcorn and spinach. Cover the pan with a lid or foil and simmer on a medium heat for 10 minutes or until the potato is soft. Pour the vegetable mix into 4 individual sized pie dishes.

Cut the filo pastry sheets in half and place one half on top of each pie dish, scrunch the pastry slightly to get good texture, also it looks prettier!

Cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling hot. Serve with greens such as broccoli or peas.

Crispy pastry and a creamy chowder filling

Spring Vegetable, Goats Cheese and White Bean Pie: Meat Free Monday

I wanted to make a special dinner for me and Scott which we could both enjoy and would feel like a treat. We’ve been really healthy recently getting ready for the summer so we definitely deserved it! I’ve been wanting to use filo pastry again for a while because there are so many different things to do with it and out of all the pastry options it is the lesser guilty option. I decided to buy a flan dish to make a big pie rather than make mini ones again (I got mine from Sainsburys for only 2.66!)

I have been really inspired recently by beans and grains and have been using them alot more in my cooking which has been really interesting and also seems to be more healthy. I’ve felt less sluggish from refined carbs and have dropped a few pounds even though I’m eating the same amount! For this pie I have made it more substantial by adding a bean and garden pea puree underneath all of the vegetables. As you can see from the photos below I first put a layer of bean and pea puree, then cooked spring vegetables and lastly some goats cheese.

I used goats cheese because it has a lower lactose level than cheese from cows milk. If you are vegan I am sure this pie would taste just as nice without any need for the cheese.I was very impressed that Scott liked it as much as he did because I really wasn’t sure it would go down well as a vegetarian date night dinner however I received lots of compliments and enthusiasm so there we have it, A husband approved vegetarian pie (Also the pie was substantial enough to serve on it’s own so there was only one dish, a chopping board, cutlery and 2 plates to wash up) Perfect!

So here is the recipe (serves 4 – we had left overs the next day and it tasted just as nice!)

For the bean and pea puree:
1 can Cannellini beans (235g drained)
90-100g Frozen peas (defrosted, cooked and cooled)
1 Lemon – Juice only
10 Mint Leaves
3 Spring Onions
1 Large Garlic Clove

Blend all of the ingredients together to make a smooth puree and season to taste. Put to one side.

For the Pie:
130g (1 cup) Shelled Broad Beans
10-12 Asparagus Spears
1 Leek
1 Onion
Bunch Mint
1 tspn Dried or Fresh Dill
100g Goats Cheese
4-5 Filo Pastry sheets

Pre heat the oven to 190c. In a sauce pan saute the leeks, onion, dill and mint in a little olive oil untill softened.

Boil or steam the asparagus and broad beans for around 5-6 minutes untill softened. Drain well.

Lightly grease your flan dish and then layer the filo pastry sheets over each other, lightly brush or spray each layer with a little oil to help stick together. I had to cut the edges off some of my sheets as they were too long, I used the edges I had sliced off by laying them in the dish to create a thick bottom layer.

Scoop the bean and pea puree into the filo pastry pie and smooth it down into a nice even layer. Add the sauteed leeks and onions in next, then layer your asparagus and broad beans on the top.

Crumble the goats cheese and sprinkle it over the top of the pie so it is evenly covered. Scrunch up the edges of the pastry to make a rustic but attractive edge (see photos).

Place the pie in the oven for 25 minutes untill hot through and the pastry has browned.

Serve hot!

Rice, Feta and Sundried Tomato Parcels: Meat Free Monday

I recently made a lovely recipe from the Weight Watchers vegetarian cookbook which was mushrooms and Stilton (I swapped it for cheddar) in filo pastry…recipe here. It was so simple and it got me thinking that really you could fill this parcel with pretty much anything to make an interesting meal! I had some sun-dried tomatoes which have been in the fridge forever so I decided to use those up along with some feta cheese, herbs and brown rice. These flavours really are a happy match so I think it worked really nicely!

I like to always have something green on my plate so I added spinach to the mix and served the parcels with some garlic, lemony broccoli which was a healthy side dish to the parcel.

Serves 4

4 Shallots – finely diced
1 Garlic clove
5 sun-dried Tomatoes (from a jar)
80-100g Feta Cheese
bunch Mint
bunch Parsley
large handful Spinach – wilted
150g Cooked Brown rice
4 sheets Filo Pastry
Salt and Black Pepper

To Serve:
broccoli – cut into florets
1 garlic clove finely sliced
juice 1/2 lemon

Pre heat the oven to 180c.

Fry the shallots in a little spray oil for a few minutes then crush the garlic into the pan and fry for a further 2 minutes.

Chop the sun-dried tomatoes and herbs finely then add them to the pan with the crumbled feta, wilted spinach and the cooked brown rice, stir to mix it all together well, season, and then take the pan off the heat and put to one side.

Take one sheet of filo pastry and slice it in half (each half should measure around 6″x 6″). Spray one side with some oil then layer the other half on top. Spoon 1/4 of the rice mixture into the centre of the pastry and then wrap the sides over the mixture to make a parcel.

Repeat untill you have 4 parcels.

Place each parcel on a baking sheet (folded side down so the top is a nice smooth surface), spray with a little extra oil to get a nice sheen and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

To serve – Steam or blanch the broccoli untill just cooked but still quite firm. Heat some oil in a pan and add the broccoli and garlic and stir fry untill the garlic is cooked and the broccoli is starting to wilt more, squeeze in the lemon juice and serve.