What could be better than veggies in a pie?
But what if you took out the flesh and added a bunch more vegetables?
I'm sure I'm not the inventor of such a meal. People in other cultures have been making vegetable pies, often in open dish form for centuries. Even spanakopita - that Greek favorite with spinach and feta in a flaky pastry is a kind of pie.
I once made a chicken pot pie for a friend and her family with whom I sometimes traded meals. They gpbbled it all up, all the while raving about how fresh and tasty it was and requesting that I make it again the next time. It wasn't until I looked in the refrigerator again that I realized I'd left out the meat. Ooops!
Some people make a pot pie at the end of the week in order to use up some of the left overs in their fridges. My grandmother would do that sometimes - sometimes with, shall we say, interesting results. I had a few vegetables that I needed to use up before going to the grocery last week so I put them in a pie with quite an enjoyable result
You can make this exactly as I did here or just clean out the vegetable drawer in your fridge to make a pie of your own design. Either way, you'll have a hearty meal. Use a store bought pie crust or a hime made crust, it doesn't matter. The real star is the vegetables.
Vegetable Pot Pie
Makes 4 hearty servings
2 pie crusts
1 cup of corn kernels
1 large potato, cut into small dice
1 small red bell pepper, cut into small dice
1 small yellow bell pepper, cut into small dice
10 stalks of asparagus, roughly chopped
1/4 cup of onions, diced
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
2 teaspoons of italian seasoning*
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter
1 1/2 tablespoons of flour
1 1/2 cups of vegetable broth
Preheat the oven to 400° F
Fit one of the pie crusts in the bottom of an 9" pie dish.
In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. put in the vegetables.
Season wth the salt, pepper and Italian seasonings.
Cook until all the vegetables are soft.
Pour the vegetables over the bottom crust.
In the same skillet, make a roux with the butter and the flour.
Pour in the broth and stir until it is thickened and smooth. Season to taste.
Pour the gravy over the vegetables and mix through.
Put the top crust over the vegetables and crimp, attaching to the bottom crust.
Vent the top crust (cut holes in it) to allow steam to escape.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the crust is browned.
*Mix some Italian seasonings ahead of time and store it in an airtight jar for use in this and other recipes:
- 2 tablespoons of dried basil
- 2 tablespoons of dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons of dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon of dried rosemary
- 1 tablespoon of red chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon of dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
Mix in a jar and seal.
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| Cook the veggies |
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| Fill up your pie |
