Broccolini, Pea and Feta Spelt Freeform Pie (with Olive Oil Pastry)
[cap id="attachment_1498" align="aligncenter" width="300"]About to be eaten![/cap]
I love pies, but sometimes I just don’t want to have to wrestle with making a butter pastry that may or may not work for me at that very moment (sometimes it’s a challenge!). So this olive oil pastry is very forgiving, and works beautifully in this savoury freeform pie. It is as lovely warm as it is cold so makes good fare for a picnic. It is also dairy free so can be used for other pies that don't include dairy (like this one which has feta and parmesan cheese).
If you have any leftover baked veggies (like potato, sweet potato or pumpkin), then you can add a cupful to the filling instead of the peas and it will be gorgeous. Just make sure you cut them into smaller chunks (2cm squares) so that you get a mouthful of the whole filling in each bite, and not just the baked veggie.
For the dough it is important to include the sprinkle of pepper, it really adds a little “something” to this savoury pastry.
Note: if you do not have any milled parmesan already prepared, do this before starting the recipe by placing 100g parmesan (cut into cubes) into the TM bowl and mill 8 seconds / speed 9, put aside and continue with making the dough without washing the bowl.
I love pies, but sometimes I just don’t want to have to wrestle with making a butter pastry that may or may not work for me at that very moment (sometimes it’s a challenge!). So this olive oil pastry is very forgiving, and works beautifully in this savoury freeform pie. It is as lovely warm as it is cold so makes good fare for a picnic. It is also dairy free so can be used for other pies that don't include dairy (like this one which has feta and parmesan cheese).
If you have any leftover baked veggies (like potato, sweet potato or pumpkin), then you can add a cupful to the filling instead of the peas and it will be gorgeous. Just make sure you cut them into smaller chunks (2cm squares) so that you get a mouthful of the whole filling in each bite, and not just the baked veggie.
For the dough it is important to include the sprinkle of pepper, it really adds a little “something” to this savoury pastry.
Note: if you do not have any milled parmesan already prepared, do this before starting the recipe by placing 100g parmesan (cut into cubes) into the TM bowl and mill 8 seconds / speed 9, put aside and continue with making the dough without washing the bowl.
Servings: 4 serves
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS FOR PASTRY
- 150 g wholemeal spelt flour or plain wholemeal flour
- 150 g white spelt flour or plain white flour
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes
- Freshly cracked pepper to taste
- 60 g extra virgin olive oil
- 150 g cold water from the tap
INGREDIENTS FOR FILLING
- 500 g water
- 400 g about 2 bunches broccolini, washed, with thick end stalks trimmed if necessary
- 100 g parmesan cheese milled (see note above)
- 150 g frozen peas
- 200 g crumbled feta
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes or chilli flakes if you like a little heat
- 2 large eggs beaten
- sprinkle of nigella seeds or sesame seeds
Instructions
METHOD FOR PASTRY
- Place all ingredients into TM bowl and mix 5 seconds / speed 5
- Lock lid in position, then knead 1 minute to form your dough
- Place onto lightly floured board and bring together into a ball
- Roll in plastic wrap and rest for 30 minutes in the fridge
- Do not clean bowl … continue with method for pie filling
METHOD FOR PIE FILLING / AND BAKING
- While pastry is resting, fill TM bowl with 500g water straight after making dough (do not clean bowl)
- Place the broccolini into Veroma base and cover with lid
- Steam 8 minutes / Veroma / speed 4
- Toss broccolini around and continue steaming another 4 minutes / Veroma / speed 4 or until the point of a sharp knife inserted into thickest steam indicates it is nearly cooked, put aside and allow to cool (this can be done well ahead of time if you wish)
- Turn oven on to 200 degrees, fan forced, and place rack into middle of oven
- Boil the kettle and pour boiling water over peas and allow to sit for 2 minutes, drain well, season with a little salt and pepper, and with a fork mash the peas a little so that they are no longer all whole and put aside
- Place a piece of baking paper onto your bread mat (this will help stop the paper moving around whilst you are rolling out the dough, or alternatively dab your bench with a little bit of water to keep the baking paper in place)
- Sprinkle the baking paper with a little wholemeal flour, place pastry on top and lightly sprinkle flour on top of pastry too
- Roll pastry out into a large 35cm round (14 inches – this is larger than the baking paper, but you will be folding the pastry back towards the centre of the freeform pie so it won’t end up being this large)
- Sprinkle parmesan cheese over base of dough leaving a border of 5cm, sprinkle with red pepper flakes or chilli flakes, then place spoonful of the peas around the base too
- Top with the steamed broccolini that you have cut in half lengthways, and finish off with the crumbled feta ensuring that you cover the whole area right up the 5cm border
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper
- Brush the 5cm edge of the pastry with the egg wash, and working in a circular motion fold the dough up onto the filling leaving a wide circular hole in the centre (the egg wash should help the dough stick together as you work around the pie)
- Brush the pastry all over with the egg mix, then pour the rest of the egg mix into the hole in the centre so it becomes part of the filling
- Sprinkle seeds of choice onto the pastry and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until a lovely golden colour (it take 40 minutes in my oven)
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving with a large mixed salad
Notes
Inspired by Martha Stewart recipe here