Little Roasted Vegetable Pies Recipe

This week we’re turning our attention to a savoury bake, and giving a little love to a winter warmer favourite.

There’s something especially comforting about roasted vegetables in the cooler months - sweet pumpkin, kumara, zucchini and red pepper, all tucked into flaky pastry with a creamy blue cheese and parmesan filling.

They feel a little bit special, but are wonderfully practical too: lovely to serve warm with drinks when friends or family come over, or to make and take to new parents as a nourishing little snack to enjoy during those busy newborn days.

Ingredients

1/2 (60g) red onion (peeled and finely chopped)
1 (50g) shallot  (peeled and finely chopped)
75g (1/2) red pepper (deseeded and finely diced)
75g peeled pumpkin (finely diced)
75g zucchini (finely diced)
75g peeled kumara (finely diced)
25ml (1 tbsp + 2 tsp) olive oil
flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
200g puff pastry
65g blue cheese (a creamy variety, finely chopped)
65g cream cheese
1 egg (lightly beaten and only half required)
2 tsp finely grated parmesan

Method

Using baking spray, oil or melted butter lightly grease 24 baby muffin tins.

Preheat oven to 250°C. Place prepared vegetables into a bowl, add oil and toss together. Spread vegetables out in a single layer onto a low-sided baking tray.

Place vegetables into the oven and roast for 5 minutes or till they are ‘al dente’. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then cool.

Roll pastry to 2mm thickness. Using a 7.5cm frilly biscuit cutter or a 7.5cm template, cut out as many rounds as you can (there should be about 18). Gently press pastry rounds into greased baby muffin tins.

Lay pastry offcuts on top of one another, ensuring they are kept flat, and roll out to 2mm thickness. Cut remaining 6 rounds out of the re-rolled pastry. Discard any remaining re-rolled pastry.

Place blue cheese, cream cheese, half of the lightly beaten egg and Parmesan into a bowl and combine. Place 1 teaspoon of filling into each pastry case.  

Pile 1 heaped tablespoon of roasted vegetables on top of the blue cheese mixture.

Rest pies for 30 minute in refrigerator. Preheat oven to 210°C.

Bake Little Roasted Vegetable Pies for 10-15 minutes or till golden brown and pastry is cooked through.  When cool, remove from muffin tins.

Refrigerate and to serve reheat at 150°C for 5-10 minutes or till hot. Alternatively freeze, thaw and reheat.