Roasted Vegetable Pie
Run out of firewood, and your delivery service has no wood either? Freezing cold and miserable because you are meant to be in Vietnam, but instead you are in 6c Mountains weather crippled by self pity? No? Oh! Why the covid heck not? Well, I am, so I turned the oven on to keep warm, and I baked all day till my back was broken, before having a tantrum, and locking myself into my bedroom with an electric heater. Here is the recipe. Damn you covid. I am grateful, really I am. I mean….I HAVE PIE!!! and not a pureed pangolin or bat involved in the making.
THE CRUST:
225g organic locally milled spelt wholegrain flour
150g butter
pulse in food processor until combined yet still lumpy (or rub butter into flour with hands if your food processor just broke down and you can not buy and new one because you have no job because of covid)
add slowly 115g water and
5g salt until just incorporated
form into a ball, press to flat disk, cover, refrigerate.
line a greased fluted removable bottomed tin with pastry (roll it out after at least 1hr in fridge)
let the excess sit gently around the outside of tin.
pile Roasted vegetable filling on, top with as much grated cheese as you can possibly add, and a few sesame seeds
fold excess pastry over the top.
brush with egg or melted butter and bake at least 40 mins, pref 1hr. Make sure it is well browned.
THE FILLING:
gather as many locally grown seasonal vegetables you can get. Chop into pieces, florets, slices, whatever works (!) and toss in a bowl with extra virgin Australian olive oil, salt and either spices (home made Ras el hanout, or a Ceylon dark roasted curry powder) or freshly chopped herbs (I like rosemary and thyme).
roast on baking trays 180c (you need at least 2 trays worth per pie) for 1hr or until well cooked and soft.
squish roasted veg into pie shell (see above)
This Pie is nice with salad, cold in a lunchbox backpack whilst wandering the local national parks, heated for dinner with a white sauce, or a fruit chutney or home made mayo.
