Image: The Pie Box
Sophie Scott, the mastermind behind queer-owned, female-run independent pie shop The Pie Box shares her secret recipes for two decadent vegan pies – perfect for a picnic, or tucking in at home.
Maple and mustard vegetable pie
Vegan rough puff pastry
Ingredients:
- 500g strong white flour
- 2tsp salt
- 400g block of vegan butter
- 150ml cold water
Method:
- Sift the flour and salt into a bowl.
- Chop the block of butter into small chunks, place inside the bowl and rub it loosely into the flour.
- Slowly add the ice-cold water, mixing with a wooden spoon until combined.
- Once a rough dough has formed, knead for a few minutes. Cover and place the bowl in the fridge for 1-2 hours until chilled and rested. Make your filling while your dough is chilling.
- Turn your dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for another couple of minutes – you will still see lumps of butter, which is what we want!
- Get your rolling pin and roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 15cm wide and 45cm long. Imagining the rectangle in thirds, fold the top third down to the centre and the bottom third up over it. Turn the dough a quarter turn to the left.
- Roll it out to around three times its length (you may have to hit the dough with the rolling pin to flatten it before being able to roll), and then fold it again as you did before – the top third over to the centre and then the bottom third up over it.
- Cover the dough and place it back into the refrigerator for 1.5 hours.
- Once your pastry has finished chilling for the final time, roll it out, fold it and turn it as you did before, then roll it to around 0.5cm thick. You can now cut the dough to line the bottom of your baking dish (only use about a third, saving a third for the lid, and the rest for your dessert).
- Once you’ve made your pastry case, place a layer of baking paper over it and fill it with baking beads. Blind bake your pastry case for around 15 minutes at 200°C until golden brown. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing the baking beads so the pastry doesn’t slide down the sides.
Maple and mustard filling
Ingredients:
- 200g butternut squash
- 100g carrots
- 150g aubergine
- 100g parsnips
- 150g courgettes
- 3tbsp olive oil
- 2tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 1tbsp maple syrup
- 1tbsp soy sauce
- 2 cloves crushed garlic
- 1tbsp salt
- 1tbsp black pepper
- 1tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 1tbsp lemon juice
- 2tbsp butter
- 6tbsp flour
- 500ml soy milk
- 2 vegetable stock cubes
Method:
- Peel and chop all your vegetables to around the same size, then place them in a large bowl, make the marinade and pour it over, mixing together. Bake at 180°C for 35-45 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are roasted.
- While your veggies are cooking, make the white sauce by melting the butter on medium heat, stirring in the flour and mixing continuously, then slowly adding the milk to make a smooth white sauce. Make the stock by adding boiling water to the stock cubes and combining it with the sauce. Bring to a simmer and remove from the heat.
- Mix your marinated roasted vegetables into the white sauce.
- Add your vegetable mixture to the blind-baked pie case, top with your pastry lid and crimp the sides to seal. Make sure you cut some air holes in the top to allow the steam to escape. Bake your pie for 25-35 minutes at 200°C, until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.
- Enjoy hot or keep in the fridge for up to four days.
Peach and custard crowns
Ingredients:
- 1/3 block of rough puff pastry
- 1 batch of homemade custard
- 1 tin of peaches
- Icing sugar to decorate
Method:
Use the remaining 1/3 of the pastry to make the peach and custard crowns. Roll the pastry out into rough square sheets – these can be any size you like, depending on how big you want them (I make them around 15cm x 15cm). Keep these chilled in the fridge.
Vegan custard (store-bought would be fine too)
Ingredients:
- 2 cups soy milk
- 70g white sugar
- 1tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1/2tsp vanilla essence
- 50g cornflour
- 1/4tsp turmeric
- 100g block of butter
Method:
- Chop the butter into small cubes and keep in the fridge to stay cool.
- Add 1 cup of soy milk, the white sugar and both types of vanilla to a pot. Place on medium heat, whisking occasionally.
- In a separate jug, mix the other cup of soy milk with the cornflour and turmeric, then stir until it forms a smooth paste.
- Once the milk has simmered, stir in the cornflour mixture and whisk quickly until it thickens.
- Continue cooking for a couple of minutes, then take off the heat and mix in the cold butter.
- Allow to cool before assembling the pastries.
- To assemble, lay out the pastry sheets, spoon some custard in the centre, fold over the corners and top with a peach.
- Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 200°C until golden, then dust with icing sugar once cooled.
Treat yourself to more of Sophie’s pies from thepiebox.co.uk
