Mini Rustic Pies

Do you love that I added ‘rustic’ to the title? Ha! 😀

These pies were eaten so fast right after I took this photo. The only thing that slows the kids down is the centre, that’s as hot as lava.

Mila was my little chef today. She made the pastry, while I made the filling. She rolled it out and folded down the tops which added the ‘rustic’ look. 😍

You can make pies from scratch or make the filling from left overs. These ones, we made from scratch.

We added lentils, mushrooms, carrots & peas but honestly, just add whatever veggies you have, or whatever you know the kids will eat.

The only thing to watch out for is the filling. If you like your pies quite ‘saucy’ and oozy, make it fairly loose or else it tends to dry out in the oven. You can do this my adding a little extra stock & a splash more red wine. 😉

We ate these with lightly steamed broccoli (with the whole stem) & buttery mashed potatoes. If I’d had time, I would have made a mushroom sauce to drizzle on top. Next time!

Ingredients

Filling

1 onion, diced

3-4 cloves of garlic, grated

2-3 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped

1 handful of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 handful of sage, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, diced

1/2 cup of peas

1 tin of lentils, strained & rinsed

1 cup of soy protein (Available at the supermarket in the health food isle. Prepare according to packet instructions).

2 stock cubes

2 cups of water

1 knob of butter (Nuttelex)

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp of corn flour

Good splash of red wine

A few cracks of salt (& pepper if your kids won’t protest 🙄)

1 cap of liquid smoke (Available at BBQ’s Galore 😄 and other camping places. Use it like vanilla essence, just a little).

If you don’t have liquid smoke you can use a squeeze of smokey BBQ sauce.

Pastry

If you’re not gluten free, just do yourself a favour and buy the readymade pastry sheets. We can’t always find GF pastry that isn’t loaded with butter so we make it from a GF packet mix. This is the one we like.

The instructions are on the back. You add the entire mix with a few table spoons of Nuttelex and some water. Roll it out and you’re good to go.

Method

Preheat the oven to 220 deg celsius.

Place a pan on high heat and add 1 cup of water and 1 stock cube. When bubbling, add the onion & garlic and cook down for a few minutes.

Add the diced carrot, mushrooms, tomato paste, herbs & a knob of Nuttelex. Stir and continue to fry for a few minutes before adding the corn flour and stirring through.

Cook the flour for a further minute.

Add the rest of the stock, the lentils, and the peas, then place the lid on and allow to boil before turning down to a simmer for 10 min.

Stir through the soy protein the last stock cube and return the lid for 5 minutes before adding a good splash of wine, and salt & pepper to taste.

Let this simmer on low while you roll out the pastry and push it into cupcake baking trays.

Spoon the mixture into the pies and then cut circles of pastry for the lids. Fold and squish or use a fork to join the lids. I think Mila used a combination of both methods and some she didn’t bother to join at all, she just plopped it on like a hat. 😄 It really doesn’t matter how you do it.

Remember to pierce the tops of the pies with a fork to let out the steam.

Brush the tops with melted butter, milk or a little oil and then place in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Then voila! Mini rustic pies!

This made 12 mini pies but we have enough mixture for another 12. (Leftover filling makes great toasted sandwiches for lunch).

You can serve these piled high on a plate as part of a feast or serve individually with salad or veg.

Either way, this is one meal you won’t have to beg the kids to eat.