roasted autumn vegetable pot pies

As easy as pie.

There’s something about pie, any kind of pie— gorgeous lattice top pies or rustic galettes, deep dish or pot pies, sweet or savory, fruit or vegetable, cheesy or meaty, hand pies from every corner of the earth… there’s something about taking pastry dough and wrapping it around, partially or completely, some kind of filling that makes it simply irresistible. Every sneaky parent knows that pie is also the best medium to sneak some healthy vegetables into the tummies of their little ones. Pumpkin, parsnip, squash… all vegetables that my lovely, not-so-little, 9-year-old refuses to eat in roasted form but put them in a pie and we go from “Yuk!” to “More please!” Getting her to eat these is as easy as pie!

Roasted Autumn Vegetable Pot Pies

(yields 5 pot pies using  3.5 inches diameter, 1.5 inches deep ramekins)

You will have some unused pumpkin and squash left over and if you don’t want them to go to waste, you can easily double or triple this recipe. Don’t have enough ramekins? No problem, you can make hand pies instead in your favourite shape.

Filling

• 175 g pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cubed (try to keep the pumpkin, squash, parsnip and carrot pieces to about the same size as they will all be roasted together)
• 175 g butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
• 75 g parsnip, peeled and sliced or cubed
• 75 g carrots, peeled and sliced or cubed
• 75 g onions, finely diced
• 150 g green peas, shelled (I used frozen)
• about 5 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1/4 tsp ground savory
• salt

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Toss pumpkin, squash, parsnip and carrots with 3 tbsp of oil and place in a single layer on a roasting pan. Sprinkle with a bit of salt.
3. Roast vegetables for about 20 minutes until the carrots and parsnip are just soft enough to be able to prick easily with a fork. The pumpkin and squash will be well softened by then. Remove from oven and set aside.
4. Heat remaining oil in a skillet.
5. Add onions and soften.
6. Mix in savory.
7. Mix in peas and cook until they are just done, a few minutes. Remove from heat.
8. Place the roasted vegetables in a large bowl. Add the onion/peas mixture and toss gently to combine.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cool at room temperature while you make the crust.

Crust 

• 190 g white whole wheat flour
• 115 g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• 75 g labneh (You may use yogurt instead but you will need to adjust the water quantity below.)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground savory
• 90 g cold water

1. In a large dough bowl, mix salt, pepper and savory with flour.
2. Add butter and labneh and mix well with fingers to achieve a bread crumb-like texture.
3. Add water and form a soft dough.
4. Divide the dough into 5 equal portions. (I use a weigh scale to be certain that each portion is the same amount… but perhaps I’m overdoing it!)
5. Divide each of the 5 portions of dough into two balls— one that is 1/3 of the weight of each portion and the other that is the remaining 2/3 of the the weight. (Again, the weigh scale come in!) Roll each ball between the palms of your hands and flatten to make a disk. Place on a dish. The larger disk will be used to make the bottom crust, the smaller for the top. Once you have completed this for all the 5 portions, cover the plate with a bowl and place in fridge to cool for minimum 1 hour. This step is essential as it is much easier to work with cold dough.

Assembling

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Roll each disk of dough into a circle. The bottoms should be about 7 inches in diameter and the tops should be 3.5 inches in diameter (the size of the ramekins).
3. Place the bottom pastry into the ramekin and let the edges hang out along the sides. Add filling, place the top pastry on top and fold the overhanging pastry on top.
4. Cover the top of the pie with foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil. Continue baking until the tops are nicely browned (about another 20 minutes)

NOTE: The filling is a fairly dry mixture and you may easily make hand pies if you so desire.