Vegetable Pot Pies

This winter/spring season I wanted to cook with squash more. I have never really been a big fan of squash, so I decided to give it another try. Winter squash blends very nicely with other vegetables in these delicious individual pot pies.

Serves 6

• 1 large potato
• 5 1/2 oz winter squash
• 1 large carrot
• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 1/2 cups small broccoli florets
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 3/4 oz butter
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 2 egg yokes, plus 1 lightly beaten egg
• cayenne pepper to taste
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
• 1 tsp poppy seeds

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Spray six 1-cup ramekins with cooking spray and place them on a baking sheet.

2. Peel potato, winter squash, and carrot and cut them into 1-inch cubes. Cut the red bell pepper into 1-inch squares. Steam potato, winter squash, carrot, and broccoli until tender. Place in a large bowl.

3. Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add onion and red bell pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until just tender. Add to the rest of the vegetables.

4. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add flour while constantly stirring and cook for 2 minutes. Gradually pour in the milk while continuing to stir. Bring to a boil. Stir for 3 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and slightly cool. Stir in cheese and egg yokes. Mix everything well. Add cayenne pepper, paprika, and salt. Add the sauce to the vegetables and stir to combine.

5. Divide the vegetable mixture between 6 ramekins. Cut 6 circles out of the puff pastry to fit the top of the ramekins. Seal the edges. Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Adapted from Essential Vegetarian, Individual Pot Pies, p 71. 

Filo Risotto Pie

Who doesn't love Risotto? Risotto Pie is even better! This is a perfect pie to take to a potluck or surprise your guests with some unique comfort food. It's incredibly filling and flavorful. The crispy filo pastry complements the soft and creamy risotto.

I found this recipe in "Essential Vegetarian" by Morgan. I love this cooking book. It was published in 2000 in Australia and is a great source of very unique European/Australian vegetarian recipes. If you ever find this book, get it and you won't regret it.

If you haven't used filo dough before, make sure you thaw it overnight in the fridge. Do not open the package. Filo dough becomes dry and brittle very quickly. Once you're ready to work with the dough, take it out from the fridge and carefully spread it across a flat surface. You will be using separate sheets of it. Cover the filo dough with a damp cloth to prevent it from drying.

The secret to making a good risotto lies with what kind of rice you're using, not so much with the method of preparation. The best rice for risotto is arborio which makes the dish creamy and rich. Arborio rice grains are large and round. You can buy it in regular grocery stores.

Serves 8

• 2 large bell peppers, sliced in half, cored and seeded
• 1 cup white cooking wine
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 leek (white part only), chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 fennel bulb, finely chopped
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 2 1/4 oz grated Parmesan
• 10 sheets filo dough pastry, thawed
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 lb 2 oz spinach, blanched and drained
• 5 oz feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grill red bell peppers until the skin blackens and blisters. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Once cooled, peel and finely chop the peppers.

2. To make the risotto, bring the wine and broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer.

3. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan over medium. Add leek, garlic, and fennel. Saute for 5 minutes or until the leek is softened. Add the rice and cook for 3 minutes while constantly stirring.

4. Pour 1 cup stock into the rice mixture and continue to stir until the liquid is absorbed. Continue to gradually add remaining stock while constantly stirring the risotto. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until the rice is soft and fully cooked. Remove from the heat. Stir in Parmesan. Season to taste.

5. Preheat oven to 350F. Spread the filo dough across the working space and cover it with a damp cloth to prevent it from drying. Brush each sheet with oil. Fold it in half lengthways. Lay the sheets in a 9-inch spring-form tin overlapping like spokes on a wheel. One side of the pastry should hang over the side of the tin.

6. Working quickly, spread half of the risotto mixture over the pastry. Top it with half of the red bell pepper, half of the spinach, and half of the feta. Repeat with the remaining risotto, bell pepper, spinach, and feta.

7. Fold pastry over filling. Brush the pastry with oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 50 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the pie is heated through.

Russian Peach Pie (Peach Sharlottka)

 

Peaches are heavenly fruit. I'm so grateful that I live in Utah, which is pretty much the peach capital of the country! Try this simple Peach Pie recipe that has been passed down from one generation to another in my Russian family. It's called Peach Sharlottka. Peaches and cinnamon are meant for each other! This recipe makes two light 9" pies. You can also use one regular cake pan with a removable bottom. But if you're using one deep cake pan, you'll need to give it a litte bit more time to bake.

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 6 ripe medium peaches, sliced
• butter for greasing (or cooking spray) 

Preheat oven to 350F. With electric mixer beat eggs and sugar until mixture is foamy, about 4 minutes. Combine baking soda and vinegar in a separate bowl. Add foamy baking soda into egg/sugar mixture. Add cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Continue beating. Gradually stir in flour. Beat well. Fold in peaches. Grease two 9'' pie pans with butter. Divide batter between pans. Bake until toothpick comes out clean (about 45-60 minutes). Serve warm with almond vanilla ice cream.

 

Vegetable Pot Pies

These pot pies are a joy! They are delicious and very easy to make. The only thing that takes time is chopping vegetables. Poultry seasoning is the secret ingredient in this recipe. The pies are also freezable. Make a few batches and freeze them for quick dinners on busy weeknights. Makes 8 small pies. If you're using bigger ramekins (like the one in the picture), you will end up with 4 pies.

Crust

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp vegan butter, cold, chopped into small pieces

Filling

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups celery, chopped
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
• 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3 medium red-skinned potatoes, peeled, cut into small cubes
• 2 1/4 cups vegetable broth (you might need more if you want your filling to be more runny. I usually put more broth) 
• 1 tbsp poultry seasoning (or more to taste) 
• 6-8 asparagus spears, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup thawed frozen peas
• 1/2 cup thawed frozen corn
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley
• salt to taste

Crust

Combine flours with salt. Whisk together. With your hands rub in cold pieces of butter until there is no more large pieces. Add 4-6 tbsp cold water and knead dough with your hands until it's smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap. Keep in fridge until filling is ready.

Filling

Heat oil in large frying pan. Saute onion, garlic, celery, carrots, and mushroom until they are softened, about 5 minutes. Gradually stir in flour. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add potatoes, vegetable broth, and poultry seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce to low. Simmer for 10 min. Add asparagus, peas, corn, green onions, parsley. Mix everything well. Remove from heat. Season to taste.

Making pies

Preheat oven to 400F. Roll out dough into rounds to fit your ramekins. Rounds should be about 1/8-inch thick. (If you're using small 1-cup ramekins, your rounds should be about 4 inch long. You will need 8 1-cup ramekins. I've used 4 bigger ones). Divide filling among ramekins. Place dough rounds over ramekins. With your fingers, press dough around edges. Use fork around sides of pies to seal dough. Poke hole in top of each pie. Arrange pies on baking sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

The recipe is inspired by "Vegetable Pot Pies" from Vegetarian Times. 

Strawberry Chocolate Tart

Indulge yourself with a chocolate strawberry tart. Perfect recipe in time for the strawberry season! It will melt in your mouth and give you a boost of happiness!

Dough

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting tart
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces (or vegan butter), plus more for greasing
• 2 tbsp water 
• 3 tbsp semisweet chocolate chips (plus more for sprinkling) (or vegan chocolate chips) 

Filling

• 1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled and thickly sliced (use more if you want your tart very full) 
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Pulse flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in food processor until combined. Add butter and pulse until mixture is crumbly, about 10 times. Add water and pulse 5 more times. The dough at this point will come together. Use your hands to roll dough out into a disk, wrap in a plastic wrap, and chill 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a 9-inch pan (an 11-inch pan will work also, but you'll have to spread your dough very thin.) with a removable bottom with some butter. Press dough into pan forming 1-inch edges. Place pan on 2 stacked baking sheets (this will ensure that the tart will bake evenly, according to the Vegetarian Times). Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tart shell begins to pull away from sides of pan. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Use a brush to spread melting chips to create a layer of melted chocolate on the bottom of the shell.

3. To make filling combine strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Let stand for 30 minutes. You will use both the strawberries and juices to create the tart. Make sure that you don't have too much juice. The strawberries are not supposed to swim in the juice, but be coated in the juice. If you have too much juice, just get rid of it.

4. Arrange strawberries on tart pressing down gently. Pour juices over strawberries. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle with a little bit of chocolate chips. Put tart pan back into oven. Bake for about 10 more minutes or until  filling bubbles around edges. Cool for 10 minutes before removing tart from pan. Dust with cocoa powder. Enjoy!

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Adapted from the Vegetarian Times, June 2013, p. 60

Cherry Clafoutis

Clafoutis is a light French dessert made with thick batter, black cherries, and sprinkled with powdered sugar. It is so easy to make and so good that you're going to wonder why the French have been hiding this awesome recipe for so long! Apparently, clafoutis became very popular in France in the 19th century. Although the original clafoutis is made with black cherries, you can substitute them with blueberries, peaches, blackberries, and other fruit. Use frozen or fresh fruit.

Ingredients

• 3 cups cherries, pitted (you may use frozen fruit)
• 2/3 cup sugar plus 1 tbsp sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup milk (you can use almond and soy milk too!) 
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup flour
• butter for greasing
• powdered sugar for garnish

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine cherries with 1 tbsp of sugar. Set aside. With an electric mixer beat 2/3 cup of sugar with the eggs for a few minutes until the mixture becomes foamy. Add milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well. While mixing, gradually add flour. Beat until the batter is smooth. 

Grease a 9-inch baking pan or pie dish with butter. Arrange cherries on the bottom of the pan in one layer.  Pour the batter over them. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm sprinkled with powdered sugar. Bon Appetit!

Tip: This time I made Clafoutis in ramekins. I divided the cherries and the batter between 6 ramekins. If you're using a smaller pie dish, don't make your clafoutis too thick or too high. If your pie dishes are small, I would divide the cherries and batter into two parts and bake two pies instead of one. The dessert should be fairly thin, about 1 inch.)

Blueberry Pear Pie and Tartlets

In my office we  have a fun tradition to celebrate Pi Day on March 14 (3.14) by eating Pie! This year we had about 30 pies to sample. I've seen a lot of hyperactive people around the office. I attribute it to the sugar shock. We started sampling pies at 8:30 a.m. and the celebration continued throughout the day.

I made a blueberry pear pie with a lemony twist using a Russian recipe. It's flavorful and very fruity. I've also made individual tartelettes using the same method. They came out very cute!

Crust

• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• zest from 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• butter for greasing
  

Filling

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 egg yokes
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1 cup whole milk
• 4-5 pears, peeled, seeded, cored, sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• powdered sugar

Let's make the dough for the crust first!

Combine softened butter, lemon zest, and sugar. Use a fork or a whisk to make the mixture even. Add egg and lemon juice and mix everything well. Add flour and baking powder. Mix everything well with your hands making a ball of soft dough. 

Grease a 9-inch pie pan with some softened butter. Press the dough into the pan creating 1- inch edges. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Now let's work on the filling.. 

In a small sauce pan combine sugar, flour, egg yokes, vanilla, lemon juice, and milk. Mix everything well. Heat the mixture on medium while constantly stirring. Bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute while continuing to stir. It's important to make sure you don't boil the mixture for more than a minute.

Baking... get ready for delicious smells!

Preheat your oven to 350F. Once your crust has been in the fridge for 30 minutes, take it out. Arrange pear slices in layers on the bottom of the pie crust. Put the pie in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, take the pie out. Arrange the blueberries over the pears. Pour the filling over the pears and blueberries. Bake at 350F for 25-30 more minutes.

Cool the pie before serving. Sprinkle a bit of powdered sugar over the pie. Enjoy!

*** Use the same method if you decide to prepare tartlets. I used the mini cupcake form and pressed the dough into the mini cupcake pan, and it worked great! Make sure you slice your pears into much smaller pieces if you decide to go this route.

Shepherd's Pie with Lentils

This pie will fill your house with amazing aromas of thyme, baked potatoes, and sauteed onions. Delicious! Traditionally, the Shepherd's pie is made with lamb in Britain or beef in America. I made a vegan version of the pie with lentils.

• 4 large potatoes
• 1/2 stick vegan butter, melted (or normal butter if you use dairy products) 
• 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk (or normal milk) 
• 4 green onions, chopped
• olive oil for sauteing
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1 cup cooked lentils (a little more than1/2 cup of dry lentils will yield1 cup cooked ones. Make sure they are slightly undercooked)
• cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Step 1: Prepare Mashed Potatoes

I usually chop my vegetables while the potatoes are boiling. Boil the potatoes. Mash them with a potato masher. Add vegan butter, soy milk, and green onions. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything well. Keep warm.

Step 2: Saute Vegetables

Heat about 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large saute pan. Saute onions and garlic for 2 minutes. Add carrots, celery, thyme, and vegetable broth. Saute for about 5 minutes. Add frozen corn and peas. Saute for 2 more minutes. Add cooked lentils. Mix everything well. Season to taste. Make sure you don't overcook the vegetables. They will be baked in the oven, so they will become even softer.

Step 3: Make the Pie

Grease a casserole dish with cooking spray. Transfer the vegetable mixture, including the broth, into the greased dish. Top with the mashed potatoes. You can rough up the potatoes to create an uneven top that will brown nicely. Bake at 400F for 30 minutes or until the top is browned and a bit bubbling.

Enjoy!

Cabbage Pie

Cabbage is a national vegetable of Russia. It's baked, boiled, fried, fermented, and enjoyed all year-round. Cabbage is an excellent source of beta-carotine, Vitamin C and fiber. This Cabbage Pie is so easy to make. My hope is that those skeptical about cooking with cabbage will find it delicious and will make it again and again.

Ingredients

• 1/2 head of cabbage, shredded
• 1 stick of butter
• 5 tbsp sour cream (If a recipe doesn't include sour cream, it's not Russian)
• 3 tbsp kefir
• 6 tbsp flour
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• black pepper, oregano, basil to taste

1. Melt butter. Mix butter and cabbage and place in casserole dish.

2. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl to form soft batter. Mix well.

3. Pour batter over the cabbage. Bake at 350F for 30-40 min or until golden brown.